Riverside Community College District Foundation

Goals from the RCCD Foundation 5-year Strategic Plan, dated November 2018:

Goal 1: Build the Foundation’s staff infrastructure to better serve the increased fundraising needs of the District and colleges.
Goal 2: Build a strong programmatic structure to enhance prospect identification, donor cultivation and stewardship, and fundraising results.
Goal 3: Demonstrate a measurable increase in fundraising results for benefit of the District/Colleges.
Goal 4: Improve effectiveness of RCCD Foundation Board of Directors in support of the overall organizational mission.

Strategies from the RCCD Foundation 5-year Strategic Plan, dated November 2018:

Strategy 1: Hire and train Foundation staff, from 2020-2023, to assist in a variety of fundraising and operational functions in support of the Foundation, District, and colleges.
Strategy 2: Continue existing annual fundraising programs and add new programs and activities between 2020-2023, as staffing permits, to enhance visibility and fundraising results for the Foundation, District and colleges.
Strategy 3: Implement strategic fundraising activities, with associated metrics for tracking and reporting face-to-face donor visits, solicitation outputs and outcomes, and funds raised.
Strategy 4: Increase monthly/quarterly participation of Foundation Board members in fundraising, community relations, and District engagement activities.

The Riverside Community College District Foundation is led by a leadership team of highly qualified fundraising professionals who, over the course of the last two years, have made dramatic improvements to the organizational infrastructure, policies and practices. Our ongoing success and the implementation of the organization's new 5-year strategic plan will depend heavily on the level of infrastructure investment made by the District into the RCCD Foundation.

During the past two years, the Foundation has undergone major changes, including a complete turnover of leadership. In addition, the Foundation has migrated its data to Salesforce to ensure the Foundation is positioned to adequately support increased fundraising, growth of prospect pools and increasing staff. Foundation leadership also overhauled internal processes and has made essential operational changes to align with industry and IRS best practices, particularly in the areas of acknowledgment, receipting and donor control.

In terms of fundraising outcomes, the RCCD Foundation has maintained an average level of fundraising success and net assets have grown slowly but steadily over the past decade. The Foundation currently operates a well-developed scholarship program that provides approximately $500,000 in scholarship support each year. Annual contribution totals are also comparable to those of similarly situated community college foundations. However, we still have a great opportunity and responsibility to grow our fundraising outcomes by expanding our reach, focusing on relationships, and being attentive to priority- and metrics-based fundraising work.

With competent knowledgeable staff leading the organization, as well as a strong and committed Board of Directors, the RCCD Foundation is well positioned to grow into an organization that actively supports District and college fundraising priorities.