Berks County Community Foundation, Inc.
Money talks. We teach it to hug.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Berks County Community Foundation was founded in 1994 to help individuals, families, organizations and businesses achieve their charitable objectives and improve the quality of life for the residents of Berks County. Many of those objectives have been met by establishing funds at the Community Foundation that have specific purposes. Since that time, the Community Foundation has grown to manage hundreds of charitable funds. Each year, those funds distribute scholarships and grants to support local students and assist a variety of nonprofit organizations and causes.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Grants and scholarships
Berks County Community Foundation was founded in 1994 to help individuals, families, organizations and businesses achieve their charitable objectives and improve the quality of life for the residents of Berks County. Since that time, the Community Foundation has grown to manage hundreds of charitable funds. Each year, those funds distribute scholarships and grants to support local students and assist a variety of nonprofit organizations and causes.
Where we work
Accreditations
Council on Foundations National Standards
Affiliations & memberships
Council on Foundations - Member
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Numbered of staff who are satisfied to be an employee of the institution
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We're growing.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Board and staff members set discretionary initiatives through a periodic strategic planning process. The Community Foundation's discretionary funds and other resources support these priorities.
Discretionary initiatives change over time. During the 2019-2021 pandemic, our focus turned to supporting local nonprofits through that time.
Prior to the pandemic, the foundation's (FY 2014 – FY 2019) discretionary initiatives were as follows:
1. Reposition Reading as a sustainable, vital city in the heart of Berks County
2. Develop and implement an initiative that has a meaningful impact on the arts in Berks County
3. Develop and implement an initiative that has a meaningful impact on educational attainment in Berks County
4. Develop and implement an initiative to strengthen community leadership among key organizations
5. Develop and implement an initiative that encourages data-driven decision making to support community revitalization, particularly in Reading
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Initiative: Reposition Reading as a sustainable, vital city in the heart of Berks County.
Rationale: A vibrant downtown, strong civic leadership and an educated workforce attract, create and retain family-sustaining jobs that in turn lead to a better quality of life for residents.
Initiative: Support, promote and fund the arts in Berks County, both downtown and in regions of the county that report lower participation in such activities.
Rationale: If existing arts and culture organizations bring their programming out of the establishment, they will reach a larger audience and expose more people to creative activities.
Initiative: Increase the percentage of Berks County residents who hold high school diplomas, trade/program certificates, and bachelor's degrees.
Rationale: An educated workforce attracts, creates and retains family-sustaining jobs that in turn lead to a better quality of life for residents.
Initiative: Strengthen community leadership among key organizations.
Rationale: Berks County needs more organizations to step up and drive leadership programs or projects in order to bring meaningful community change.
Initiative: Assist with the revitalization of Berks County communities, particularly Reading, by encouraging the use of data in planning and decision-making.
Rationale: Communities that plan based on data rather than hunches or opinions are better able to address the challenges they face and begin to improve.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Mission
The mission of Berks County Community Foundation is to promote philanthropy and improve the quality of life for the residents of Berks County.
Values
Berks County Community Foundation is dedicated to the following values:
• Impact: We make a difference.
Every grant we make and action we take is meant to make life better and serve the greater good.
• Transparency: We're an open book.
Our work – including our processes, financial information, results and history - is transparent and open to review and scrutiny by the community.
• Integrity: We honor our commitments.
We are stewards of the legacies of the members of our community who entrusted their charitable gifts and intentions with us to carry out forever.
• Excellence: We exceed expectations.
We always look for ways to do more, be better and hold ourselves to a higher standard.
• Evidence: We respect facts.
We make decisions based on the best facts we can find. Sometimes new facts will emerge that will force us to rethink long-held beliefs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We're bringing people downtown with events like the Reading Fire + Ice Fest, the Downtown Alive free concert series and arts programming. There is growing interest in the economy of Penn Street.
The city has adopted the Complete Streets principles.
More people are reporting they have access to the arts.
Vital Signs reports continue to be created on a regular basis to gauge progress on several issues.
We are also providing critical support to local nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 and remedy poor client service experiences, 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 identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, 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 take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, 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 look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, 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?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
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.
Berks County Community Foundation, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 03/09/2022
Mr. Alfred Weber
Tweed-Banks-Weber
Term: 2020 - 2022
Jay Wagner
Stevens and Lee
Eric Burkey
Burkey Group
P. Michael Ehlerman
Yuasa Battery Inc.
Stephen M. Fritz
VF Outlet Inc.
Elaine McDevitt
The Rose Corporation
Ramona D. Turpin
Literacy Council of Reading-Berks Inc.
Al Weber
Tweed-Weber Inc.
Michael L. Mixell
Barley Snyder
Gabriela Raful
Galfand Berger, LLP
Susan Denaro
Georgeadis Setley
Bala Peterson
WarnerMedia
Kevin K. Murphy
Berks County Community Foundation
Vicki Ebner
East Penn Manufacturing
Lyn Camella-Rich
Retired
Michael J. Rowley
Herbein + Company, Inc.
Douglas F. Smith
Mid Penn Bank
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
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
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data