CAUSE & EFFECT: November 2018

Holiday Greetings That Stand the Test of Time

Holiday Greetings That Stand the Test of Time

My love and nostalgia for stories and words prompted me to invite our foundation trustees and team members to share their thoughts on our newly constructed Collaboratory floors before the carpet went down. I wanted to capture what they were thinking and feeling in the moment and imagine what will happen over time as the carpet is replaced and people who never knew us see our messages to them and the community. I also wanted the current team to feel the uplifting and encouraging words underfoot each day as they went about the work of the community.

Today, I put the finishing touches on our 2018 family holiday card and sent them off to the printer, old school style and look forward to sending my greeting off to friends and family (if I can get them addressed and put in the mail before 2019). Since I can’t send each of you a card, let me leave you with the words memorialized on the Collaboratory floor by one of our founding trustees, John Sheppard:

What we do for ourselves dies with us!
What we do for others, who in turn make gifts to other “others” – your gift can be carried on and be eternal –
That is the Southwest Florida Community Foundation – May God bless this place and all who use its space.
Johnny
(John Woolslair Sheppard)

Now that’s a greeting that will stand the test of time.

Happy Holidays from all of us,

Sarah

Scholarship Portal Opens December 17

Start Early and Apply Soon

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation Scholarship portal is opening early this year offering a jump on scholarship season with more than 130 scholarships for post-secondary students with a wide variety of criteria.

Scholarships are available for high school seniors, adults returning to school, GED holders, undergraduate students and graduate students to continue their education at vocational/technical schools, community colleges, state colleges and universities.

Check out the scholarship descriptions by clicking here, and start getting your materials together to apply as outlined here.

If you are a member of a nonprofit board in Southwest Florida, be sure that you and your fellow board members get your tickets to spend the day with renown Speaker, Author and Entrepreneur Dan Pallotta as he brings his acclaimed training for nonprofit boards to our area. Board members will be seated together.

One of TED Talks’ most viewed presenters on “The Way You Look at Charities is Dead Wrong,” Pallotta will be in the Collaboratory on Saturday, November 3 for a daylong seminar specifically for nonprofit board members and their organization’s leader. Tickets are limited. For more information or reservations, click here.

Year-end Giving Tax Solutions

Your Community Foundation can provide a number of tax-wise giving solutions:

Itemizing and need to give to charity but not sure which ones yet?
Consider a donor advised fund.

Worried about paying capital gains on appreciated assets and want to support something you care about?
Whether securities or property, consider giving it to the Foundation to start a donor advised fund or start a scholarship fund now.

Need a tax deduction now but also want income for life?
Consider a Charitable Gift Annuity, Charitable Remainder Unitrust or Annuity Trust.

Need to take your required distribution from your IRA at 70 1/2 years of age but don’t want to pay the tax?
Consider rolling it into a fund at the Community Foundation for the causes or organizations you care about. Give it all away now or endow it for the future.

Are you bunching your deductions every other year because of the new tax law passed last December?
Consider putting your charitable contributions into a donor advised fund so you can keep on giving like you do each year and take advantage of the tax deduction in a different year.

Want to give a gift in memory or honor of someone special this holiday season?
Consider a customized gift in that person’s name to one of our specialty funds that supports a cause important to you (click here for a list of specialty funds), or start a fund in his/her name.

Our development team is working overtime this holiday season to accommodate these customizable gifts. Click here or call Carolyn Rogers at 239-274-5900.

If you weren’t able to join us for Party in the Park, the grand opening of Collaboratory on October 21, don’t worry! We captured it all on video for you- simply click on the image above to watch the highlights of the special day.

Career Opportunities with one of our Partners

Second Muse is Hiring

Interested in creating lasting change in Southwest Florida? Check out this unique opportunity to open and build 21st century economies in the Southwest Florida region with our partner Second Muse. A local program director and an associate will be working with visionary cities, governments, organizations and startups to build financially meaningful and self-sustaining economic systems. Apply here by Friday, Nov. 30: http://secondmuse.com/careers/

Foundation Welcomed Speaker and Author Dan Pallotta for Nonprofit Board Training

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation along with Scott Fischer Enterprises Fund, a fund of the Foundation, brought nationally renowned author and TED talk speaker Dan Pallotta to town on Saturday, November 3 for a one-day board training seminar for 120 leaders and their board members from 32 nonprofits.

Designed specifically for nonprofit boards, The Bolder Board Training℠ taught how to work with CEOs to create possibilities for impact.

The Bolder Board Training℠ marked the first public event held at Collaboratory. If you missed it, you will have another chance. The event was so successful we plan to bring Pallotta back in November 2019.

Pallotta is an American entrepreneur, author and humanitarian activist who invented the multi-day charitable event industry with the AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days, which raised over half a billion dollars in nine years and were the subject of one of the first Harvard Business School case studies on social enterprise. His 2013 TED talk on philanthropy is one of the 100 most-viewed TED talks of all time. Pallotta’s book Uncharitable is the best-selling title in the history of Tufts University Press. He is also a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review online and is widely credited with changing the national conversation about impact and overhead in charity in America.

Compassionate Shark Tank to be Held Dec. 6

It’s that special time of the year again when we invite our nonprofits into the Compassionate Shark Tank to pitch their ideas for grant funding. It’s a shark tank with NO teeth.

Part of the annual competitive Community Impact Grants process of the Foundation, the Compassionate Shark Tank is a day filled with important needs shared by regional nonprofits.

Aside from our panel of experts from the community, we welcome donors and philanthropists interested in learning more for possible funding opportunities.

The event is all day Thursday, Dec. 6 at Collaboratory with pitches throughout the day by cause area. If you are interested in going into the tank to observe and possibly fund ideas, click here.

Seating is limited.

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Written on the floor of #Collaboratory before the carpet was laid by one of our founders — the guidance at the ❤️ of all we do.

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