Greater Williamsburg Community Trust Inc

In 2019 the Foundation developed a strategic plan for the next five years with the following goals:

#1 PROVIDE charitable resources to greater Williamsburg through community focused grants and scholarships.

#2 REPRESENT all members of the community by engaging diverse individuals and groups in the work of the Foundation.

#3 ADVANCE the benefits of philanthropy through education, exchange of information, and participation.

#4 INSPIRE participation in philanthropy throughout the community by matching donors with community needs and opportunities, providing flexible ways to give for professional advisors and their clients, and working with civic, nonprofit, government, and community groups to build innovative funds that fulfill their goals.

#5 SERVE as a responsible steward of charitable funds and donor intentions.

While there are specific strategies for each goal, we will provide an overview here.

1. To provide charitable resources, we will continue to offer bi-annual grant rounds from our community endowment and designated funds, and leverage grant funding from donor-advised fund holders who want to support local programs. We will conduct an annual scholarship fundraising campaign and awards process for local students as well as other scholarships that are established by individual donors at the foundation.

2. To represent all members of the community, we will engage diverse groups through our volunteer opportunities, our outreach to new nonprofits, educational sessions with local residents, and internally working on building a more diverse board and committee structure, and to look at internal processes with an eye towards making meaningful changes.

3. To advance the benefits of philanthropy through education, exchange of information, and participation. This requires a back-and-forth between foundation staff and volunteers, learning from the community, visiting programs, looking at data, and listening to residents and local leaders to understand community issues and provide financial and other resources for effective solutions. This also means regular professional development for both staff and volunteers.

4. To inspire participation in philanthropy, the strategy is to continue to build relationships across a large cross-section of our community, including individuals, families, businesses, public-sector, attorneys and financial professionals. This not only means raising funds, but also providing tools and vehicles for giving that are tailored to the needs of the donor.

5. To serve as a responsible steward of charitable funds and donor intentions, the foundation's Investment Committee will provide oversight over the investment consultant and investment managers, and ensure that WCF meets highest standards for financial and operational management, including compliance with National Standards for Community Foundations, and financial transparency.

Staff, board members, and volunteers have a wide variety of skills and experience to implement the goals and strategies above. Senior staff has over 23 years of experience in the community foundation field. Board Members are professionals and retired professionals who bring a variety of skills including fundraising, marketing, financial management, banking, insurance and legal to enhance their governance role. Over 50 knowledgeable and committed community leaders serve on the Foundation's committees and/or board, and recruitment of new volunteers and board members is ongoing.

As a result of a five-year initiative called VISION 2020 (2015-2020), the number of people giving to and through the foundation has more than doubled. The Foundation’s assets, most of which are invested for the long term, increased from six million dollars to over 26 million dollars at the end. Over half a million dollars was raised for the Community Endowment, which provides competitive grants to local nonprofit organizations twice a year. From 2015 to 2021, the amount of dollars available for competitive grants more than doubled. Six new endowments were established to support competitive grants in specific fields: Arts & Culture, Environment & Conservation, Health & Community Wellness, Children & Young Adults, Senior Services, and Scholarship. Combined, these endowments total close to three million dollars.

In 2019, the Board of Trustees approved the next five-year strategic plan, whose goals are outlined above. WCF continues to be flexible and responsive to local needs, in particular with the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with local leaders across public/private sectors, two need funds were established to support relief efforts in the spring of 2020: the Community Emergency Response Fund, and the Greater Williamsburg Small Business Relief Fund. These funds have allowed both individuals and organizations -- many of whom have never partnered with WCF before -- a way to meaningfully and effectively support their community through the crisis.