LOS ALAMOS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Connecting our Community through Enduring Philanthropy
Mission
Our mission is to improve the quality of life in our community by inspiring, facilitating and supporting enduring philanthropy and building the capacity and success of our nonprofit organizations.
Ruling year
2016
President
David Izraelevitz
Vice President
Linda Daly
Main address
PO Box 1225
Los Alamos, NM 87544 USA
EIN
35-2546420
NTEE code
Community Foundations (T31)
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (T12)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2019.
Register now
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Los Alamos Community Foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our community by inspiring, facilitating and supporting enduring philanthropy and building the capacity and success of our nonprofit organizations. Our vision is a thriving community where philanthropy makes a lasting positive impact. We seek to help community members become more charitably minded, actively consider leaving a legacy of impact with their philanthropy, and better understand that Los Alamos deserves our generosity. We build the capacity and success of our local nonprofit organizations by regularly providing a variety of opportunities for training, learning, and growth.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Local nonprofit training and capacity building
Regular training sessions for local and regional nonprofits.
Where we work
Accreditations
Awards
Member 2021
Council on Foundations
Member 2021
New Mexico Association of Grantmakers
Affiliations & memberships
Member, Ground Works (FKA New Mexico Association of Grantmakers) 2017
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Raise $1 million in Legacy Society commitments
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Local nonprofit training and capacity building
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2018 and 2019 we laid the groundwork for the development of our Legacy Society. By 2020 we raised $1 million in bequest commitments and increased that amount to over $1.2 million by 2021.
Grow assets under management to $500,000
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Local nonprofit training and capacity building
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We now have more than eleven endowed funds that were created by donors and organizations in the community, with assets that total more than $700,000.
Conduct at least three in-depth nonprofit training workshops with attendance of at least twenty participants per workshop.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Local nonprofit training and capacity building
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
We conducted four workshops to increase learning for the more than twenty participants that attended each session.
Conduct a grantmaking cycle for local nonprofits each spring
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Local nonprofit training and capacity building
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In Spring 2021, LACF conducted its first competitive discretionary grantmaking cycle following a community response/COVID-19 grant cycle in 2020. Grants will be awarded annually going forward.
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?
Finance: Stabilize financial accounting and controls, and increase financial transparency to donors
Fundraising: Increase endowed funds under management and raise unrestricted operating funds
Board of Directors: Increase diversity of local representation, and maintain culture of active involvement
Nonprofit Support: Continue training and capacity building events, develop grantmaking program to provide financial support to nonprofits
Communications: Increase coverage by local news media
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Finance:
• Continue to successfully utilize Foundant’s CommunitySuite software for bookkeeping, donation tracking and financial reporting
• Reexamine internal controls
• Continue to utilize high-quality local bookkeeping services
• Strengthen Finance and Investment Committee
Fundraising:
• Increase outreach to potential donors
• Increase giving by Board of Directors
• Seek external sources of unrestricted funds (grants)
Board of Directors:
• Recruit new board members
• Conduct board trainings to maintain active, engaged culture
• Regularly examine board make-up through a lens of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
Nonprofit Support:
• Sponsor nonprofit training events every other month
• Sponsor executive director roundtables at least quarterly
• Remain responsive to other needs raised by nonprofit organizations in the community
• Build a grantmaking program that responds to community needs, provides clear eligibility instructions to nonprofits, and aligns with the foundation's mission
Communications:
• Increase the number of press releases to local news outlets
• Participate in state-wide public service efforts as applicable
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
• Skilled, energetic executive director
• Board members recognized for active community involvement
• Strong base of support in Founders’ Society, Community Builder Society, Legacy Society, and fund creators
• Recognized by community leaders as a unique asset
• COVID-19 emergency relief funding grants provided to nonprofits at the outset of the pandemic helped to formalize our systems and processes around inaugural grantmaking efforts. These systems will be built on for future grantmaking cycles.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Finance:
• Financial transparency provided to fund holders via “donor portals” through CommunitySuite
• Internal control measures formalized
• New members added to a re-invigorated Finance and Investment Committee
• Highly qualified bookkeeper engaged
• Determined unified annual payout timing for maturing endowments
• Revised and approved Investment Policy Statement
On deck: Continue to streamline financial reporting, revisit spending policy guidelines as appropriate, identify additional bookkeeping personnel as needed
Fundraising:
• A total of ten endowments created by community members and community organizations as of 2020
• Increased funds under management to over $500,000
• Received $90,000+ in new grants
• Formalized Legacy Society and secured $1 million+ in new bequest commitments
• Launched new Community Builder giving society, with more than thirty community members pledging support of a minimum of $1,000 per year for three years
On deck: Continue growing Community Builder giving society, working with community members to create new funds, and increase Legacy Society commitments
Board of Directors:
• Added new members greatly increasing board diversity and local community representation
• Held annual board retreat, and have established a process of conducting one annual retreat every other year
On deck: Reexamine diversity on board across all measures, and adding 1-2 new board members to fill in any gaps
Nonprofit Support:
• Held four executive director roundtables
• Held seven nonprofit training/capacity building sessions, including full-day annual conference
• Conducted two rounds of COVID-19 emergency response grants at the onset of the pandemic, which established our grantmaking processes
On deck: Conduct he foundation's first-ever discretionary grantmaking cycle
Communications:
• Distributed monthly and quarterly email communications
• Distributed regular press releases to local news media
• Regularly posting to social media
• Distributed two mailings: Impact Report (late summer) and Year in Review (winter)
On deck: Target two press releases per month; continue regular email communications to foundation audiences
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings/Town halls,
-
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,
-
What significant change resulted from feedback?
In conducting our nonprofit training program within the community, we have made several changes over the past few years in response to participant feedback. We learned that offering 5-6 one-hour ad hoc training sessions in a year was not beneficial for our nonprofits. We revised the structure to consist of three in-depth workshops in a year. The content of the workshops was developed with direct input from our nonprofit leaders. In the following year, we learned that the workshop structure was beneficial, however organizations needed more built-in structures to follow up on their learning and plan-development. As a result of that feedback we incorporated 2-3 follow up sessions which are held after each workshop. Our learning will continue based on the feedback we collect from this year.
-
With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board,
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback,
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our 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.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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.
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.
LOS ALAMOS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Board of directorsas of 01/09/2023
David Izraelevitz
Los Alamos Community Foundation
Term: 2015 - 2024
Pat Soran
Retired
Cynthia Rooney
Univ. of New Mexico
Linda Daly
Retired
David Izraelevitz
Retired
Jennifer McCumber
Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation
Charles McMillan
Retired
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
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? No
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:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/28/2022GuideStar 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 employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- 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.
Thanks for signing up!
An email has been sent to the address you provided. Click on the link in that email to get more GuideStar Nonprofit Profile data today!
(Don't see an email in your inbox? Click here to resend it.)
GuideStar Pro Reports
Report successfully added to your cart!
Want more data?
A GuideStar Pro report containing the following information is available for this organization:
- Email contact information
- Financial trends metrics for five most recent years 2020*
- Letter of Determination
- Officer and/or Employee data for 2020
- Contractor and/or Paid Preparer data for 2020
- Board of Directors data for 2023
- *with the ability to download the data for 2020
Download it now for $125.
Need the ability to download nonprofit data and more advanced search options?Consider a Pro Search subscription.