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UK: Innovative responses to the call for “sustainable communities”
The USA has more to offer than the Frappucino, says David Fitzpatrick, chief executive for the Hertfordshire Community Foundation, modelled on an American best practice that really works
There are, perhaps, not many people in Europe who would offer high praise for American imports. The exception, of course, is the Starbucks caramel Frappuccino, coffee based, double blended, which clearly is a work of art.
However, one import that has proved to be a huge success, becoming a vital part of sustainable development, is that of the Community Foundation. From an idea begun in the USA many years ago, the Community Foundation Network was launched in the UK in 1991.
The model is simple: in essence, the logic is that, if a community does not have its own resources to support itself, it can never be sustainable. Community Foundations raise money into endowments so that the money ?earned? on that endowment can be ploughed into the local community. We help governments at all levels, as well as corporations and individuals, target their resources to tackle need and deprivation.
Community Foundations are individual, locally based charities committed to supporting projects that engage local people in making their communities better places to live. To that end, we target grants that make a genuine difference to the lives of local people. Community Foundations act as a vital link between local donors and local needs connecting people with causes, and enabling individuals to achieve far more than they could by themselves. In effect, we are creating a sense of ownership of the community, by the community.
One of the country?s fastest growing forms of philanthropy, community foundations are endorsed by many major public figures and leading companies. We work with many kinds of donor ? individuals, families, businesses, charitable trusts and statutory bodies.
Importantly, we are independent and ?cause-neutral?. By providing expert advice and using our in-depth local knowledge, we help any form of giving to have a lasting impact in the areas that need it most.
The network of Community Foundations has encouraged the growth of community owned endowments to over £200 million (March 2007 figures). The 56 individual Community Foundations between them now cover some 90% of the UK population. To March 2007, grants totalling almost £75 million were awarded to more than 17,000 groups making the network one of the largest funders of community organisations in the UK.
The model clearly works yet for many, the Community Foundation is the best kept secret in the area. The reason is that, in the main, Community Foundations support groups and not individuals. Having a high profile is not always part of the way that a Community Foundation works.
Having said that, the next time you are sipping on your Frappuccino, you can now also think about the vital role Community Foundations play in creating a sustainable community!
Source: Euclid Network
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