Community Foundation of Collier County

The Community Foundation of Collier County (CFCC) has four ultimate goals: 1. Leverage CFCC's influence and resources to grow assets. 2. Provide grants to meet high priority community needs. 3. Gather, use and broadly share knowledge about the community and its needs. 4. Educate donors and the community about the needs in Collier County.

Four broad strategies are based on the Foundation's major goals: 1. Fully engage with CFCC's donors to understand their needs and interests, to influence and be influenced by their interests, and to increase their total giving. 2. Undertake a specific, focused and sustained plan to strategically reach out to professional advisors who support planned giving. 3. Align CFCC's grantmaking programs to strategically impact highest priority community needs according to the most recent Community Needs Assessment. 4. Improve marketing and communication efforts to attract donors who will create endowed funds. The transfer of wealth in the U.S. by 2052 is expected to be $1.4 trillion dollars. In Florida, it is expected that $322 billion will change hands by 2020. In Collier County, it is expected that $14.7 billion will change hands by 2020. If $734 million of the transfer (approx 5%) was endowed, $34 million would be available each year for community improvements - forever. In order to capitalize on this transfer, the Foundation must engage donors in community issues and involve professional advisors - estate planners, attorneys, financial planners and accountants who work with charitable individuals - in the work of the Community Foundation. Donors with advised funds will be introduced to hundreds of nonprofits serving Collier County in a variety of ways, such as donor briefings on issues, site visits and through their introduction to Vital Signs - collected by the Community Foundation to measure the impact of its grantmaking. Highest priority needs are evaluated annually. Donors are encouraged to create unrestricted or field of interest funds to address local needs.

The Community Foundation of Collier County has 33 years of experience serving as a public charity in Collier County. It currently holds $170 million dollars and manages more than 600 philanthropic funds, including 90 local Agency Endowment Funds. The Foundation has granted $130 million to nonprofits from its funds including  approx.12 million in FY18 alone. Approximately 50 percent or $6m of those dollars were granted to Collier County nonprofits from donor funds, unrestricted grants and scholarships. The Foundation also launched multiple initiatives during past 33 years and engaged thousands of donors in supporting community issues.

For the past 33 years, the Community Foundation of Collier County has grown as a philanthropic resource for donors and nonprofits in our community. In 2016, the Foundation's board launched a new strategic plan which sharply focused its efforts on building a community endowment and providing grants and leadership that help solve community problems and improve life in Collier County. The goal is to reach $250,000 million in assets in three years. As of June 1, 2016, assets have reached more than $170,000 million and the number of new Funds have grown by 10%. Approx. $12 million in grants were made during FY 2018. More than 90 nonprofit agencies have established endowment funds at the Community Foundation, further ensuring their long-term sustainability. The Foundation wants to continue to build endowed funds for donors and nonprofits and encourage donors to become more involved in community issues. By building on our past success, we will continue to increase grants to community organizations and improve the life of residents of Collier County.