Fairfield County's Community Foundation
Together We Thrive
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
To close the opportunity gap in Fairfield County, we seek to eliminate disparities in education, employment, housing, and health.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Donor Services
We provide donor services through financial management, grantmaking and our knowledge of the Fairfield County community.
Community Leadership & Strategic Initiatives
The Fairfield County Community Foundation has the unique ability to bring people together, initiate collaborations and form partnerships to tackle our most critical regional problems:
• The Community Foundation is the leading grantmaking nonprofit organization in Fairfield County with a countywide point of view and a local funding strategy
• With our in-depth knowledge of Fairfield County, we see how issues are interrelated among our 23 cities and towns
• With 25+ years of working with local nonprofits throughout Fairfield County, we know which organizations and community leaders are accomplishing positive results
• Leaders from Fairfield County nonprofits, communities, civic offices, corporations, and private foundations regard us as a trustworthy, knowledgeable and skillful neutral party.
All of these factors allow us to invite local nonprofit leaders, community leaders, elected officials, experts, and donors to the table to collaborate, form partnerships, create solutions, pool funding, then take action.
Community Impact
OUR IMPACT & STRATEGIC POSITION:
• Fairfield County Foward, the Foundation's strategic plan released in 2022, aims to address the root causes of the disparities that exist in Fairfield County and position the community for a new era.
• The Foundation's target populations are Black, Indigenous & People of Color; Youth ages 16-25; Women & Girls.
Our Results Areas:
• All Fairfield County residents have equitable access to workforce, entrepreneurship, and employment skill-building opportunities to achieve and maintain financial self-sufficiency and build assets.
• All Fairfield County residents have safe, stable, and affordable housing in communities of opportunity.
• All Fairfield County youth and young adults graduate with a high school degree and are prepared for post-secondary education.
• All Fairfield County residents have equitable access to high-quality, culturally-competent physical and behavioral health services
Since 1992, FCCF has awarded over $390M in grants.
The Fund for Women & Girls
Through our Fund for Women & Girls, philanthropists are coming together to invest in sustainable solutions that support the safety, health and economic security of women and girls across Fairfield County. As part of the larger women’s movement, the Fund makes a greater impact by partnering in national coalitions such as Women’s Funding Network and Prosperity Together – working for progress on issues like closing the pay gap and creating pathways to economic security for low-income women and families.
Scholarship Funds
The Community Foundation has nearly 200 scholarship funds established by generous individuals, businesses, and organizations that help deserving students pursue college study and strengthen the future of the local communities. These funds each have their own eligibility requirements and cover many different areas of study, such as health care, the arts and engineering. Students from the Greater Bridgeport Area towns of Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull or Westport, CT may apply for scholarships. See website for additional information
Economic Opportunity
Organizations may qualify for economic opportunity grants if you provide affordable housing, prepare students for college and employment, and foster upward mobility for low-income workers
Education & Workforce Development
The Foundation provides grants to organizations for education and workforce development programs that align youth with educational tools and job opportunities and empower every young adult to achieve self-sufficiency by age 25 – strengthening the future of our whole community.
Where we work
Accreditations
Community Foundations National Standards 2023
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Fairfield County's Community Foundation
Board of directorsas of 04/17/2024
Mr. Edwin Ford
Edwin L Ford
Clayton H Fowler
Gerald M Fox, III
Michelle Kay Garvey
Joel Z Green
Preston Tisdale
Charles MacCormack
Neil R. Marcus
Mark Riser
Terrence Cheng
Steve Edwards
Carolyn Gonzalez
Joette Katz
Marie Rocha
Maya Reddi
Chris Whitney
John Fraade
Anthony Bennett
Mindy Houck
Christopher Johnson
Charles Presbury
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/17/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.