04 Dec 2019 CAUSE & EFFECT: December 2019
December 2019 issue
Cyber Monday: Life-changing Gifts
Our Holiday Gift Guide includes puppies, education, food for families, and mental healthcare and it’s all right here.
If you are looking for the perfect gift, search our website to see hundreds of funds and lots of causes that you could give to in honor of a loved one.
Forget the sweater, your gifts could change lives.
For the person who has everything, why not consider starting a scholarship fund in their honor, or maybe give to a fund in his or her name? We have funds for the Arts, the Environment, Women & Girls, Immigration Legal Services, Animals, you name it, we have a fund for it.
Maybe you want to support our work, or if you are passionate about connection and collaboration between nonprofits and their partners, the Collaboratory Fund is for you.
At this time of the year, we work with donors and their financial advisors on their year-end giving. We are here to help with gifts of securities, IRA Charitable Rollovers and gifts of property that donors want to give and then monetize for their favorite cause.
Just in time for those family visits, we offer Heir Education. We help families to inspire generational giving with a giving tour to expose children to things they may consider giving to with mom and dad’s or the grandparents’ donation.
Stuck on a gift idea? Give us a call.
Here we go,
Sarah
Ready, Set, Scholarships!
Are you 1 in 4?
The 2020 Scholarships portal is OPEN now through February 10, 2020. If you know graduating seniors, spread the word and encourage them to login and start the application now.
Last year the Southwest Florida Community Foundation awarded 128 scholarships totaling over $700,000. An impressive 1 in 4 applicants received money for college.
The application guide and other tools are available to support students on this journey.
Be Part of the Process
Volunteer Now to Be a Scholarship Reviewer
Please join us. Scholarship Application Reviewers are needed to help read and score Southwest Florida Community Foundation scholarship applications from mid-February to early March.
Qualifications: Computer access and Attendance at a training session.
Time commitment: 8-10 volunteer hours
Cyber Monday Sale
It’s Collaboratory Cyber Monday! Log on and check out our Change-making gear in our online store.
Collaborate with the best of them and everyone who buys this month will receive a FREE Collaboratory sticker.
On the Table News
Thanks to the over 1,000 people who gathered around the table with topics about their community.
The first On the Table Southwest Florida resulted in hundreds of survey responses that our team and students are pouring over in order to share with the community.
Several new friendships and partnerships were formed. We look forward to sharing our findings in January 2020. Stay tuned for updates!
Watch the On the Table Wrap Up Video
Legacy Planning: It Only Takes a Minute to Change the World
Have you considered how you are going to leave your legacy?
Have you ever thought about who is going to continue to support the things you believe in after you are gone?
Creating a legacy takes thought, planning and expression of your values….but we make it easy.
Click here and we will send you a guide to planning your legacy.
Collaboratory earns LEED GOLD certification
Plaque presented by Southwest Florida Branch of US Green Building Council
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s Collaboratory has achieved LEED GOLD certification using the LEED v4 Building Design + Construction: New Construction rating system. A permanent plaque was presented by the Southwest Florida Branch of the U.S. Green Building Council on October 24, 2019.
Foundation Board of Trustees Accept the LEED Gold Plaque for Collaboratory from the US Green Building Council’s Chris Ressler
Collaboratory is a public-private partnership of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation and the City of Fort Myers. The transformation of the former Atlantic Coast Railway Depot and construction of the LEED addition creates a 24,000 square-foot campus that includes the Foundation’s regional headquarters, vibrant spaces for work, gatherings and special events to be used by the community and tenants, and state-of-the-art technology that encourages regional collaboration.
“It’s incredibly exciting to see a project that doesn’t just succeed as a high-performance facility, but is designed to actively educate everyone that visits on how they can achieve the same here in Southwest Florida,” said Chris Ressler, president of the SWFL branch of the U.S. Green Building Council. “This combination of performance and education is exactly what LEED and the USGBC stand for.”
Collaboratory earned significant points toward certification for the following building aspects: Performance Based Air Quality Design & Assessment by including a smart air scrubber system into the HVAC systems; committing to the reuse of the Historic Atlantic Coast Line Train Station; achieving zero rainwater run off through the combination of permeable paving and rain gardens; high efficient water usage plumbing fixtures and overall energy use optimization.
The Foundation In the News
An Energy-focussed Entrepreneur DJs His Way to a Sustainable Future
Florida Weekly
by Adebola Malike Adigun
To put it simply, SWFL saved my life and I intend to pour that same life back into it. If you would have met me 15 years ago and someone told you that I, Malike Adigun, would have built one of the largest most requested entertainment companies in SWFL you might have laughed at them.
CAUSE & EFFECT: Easing Loneliness
as seen in The News-Press
by Sarah Owen
The holiday season in Southwest Florida is truly a season of warmth, not only with our glorious winter weather, but also the emotional warmth that comes from gathering with family, friends, colleagues and all those who are important in our lives. It’s a time of year when we are reminded that togetherness, that feeling of connection, gives the holidays their heart…
@SWFLCF
Facebook
Check out our “In Gratitude” series with comments and inspirations from our trustees, senior advisors and the Foundation team on social media this past week.