In any given year, more than 2,000 individuals,
families and corporations trust The Greater Cincinnati Foundation with
gifts of all sizes, ranging from $5 to $25 million, to create a more
vibrant and prosperous region where everyone can thrive.
In my first year at the helm of The Greater
Cincinnati Foundation, I have been inspired by the amazing donors and
partners we work with every day.
Julie Geisen Scheper and Chuck Scheper are perfect
examples—two caring and generous people who mentor students from
Covington Independent Public Schools through Covington Partners.
“My mentee is the first person in her family to
graduate from college, and to see her walk across the stage was one of
the proudest moments of my life,” Julie says.
Julie and Chuck have also been part of The Greater
Cincinnati Foundation’s nationally benchmarked Impact Investing options,
where charitable assets are invested in opportunities that generate
both financial and social return in our region. Since 2011,
entrepreneurial donors have invested $1 million in projects with the
Home Ownership Center, Minority Business Accelerator, CincyTech and
more. The Greater Cincinnati Foundation invests as well, creating
opportunities for greater impact.
Another inspiring story is that of Maggie Moore, who
passed away in December 2007 at 97 years old. She will always be
remembered as founder of the Moore-Ellis Family Scholarship Fund, which
she established to encourage young, active members of the Allen Temple
AME Church to further their education.
There is Linda Pavey. Linda established The Brennan
Equine Welfare Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation more than a
decade ago to help abandoned and abused horses.
“Part of my mission is to help abused and neglected
horses, as well as those who just need retraining,” Linda says. “There
are a lot of great organizations who will take in horses from those
situations. That’s the type I like to grant to as well as those who take
horses off the racetrack who can no longer race. They train them for a
second career and adopt them out.”
Dipping back into our history, we remember the
visionary women who helped create The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
after the mission of their organization, the Fresh Air and Convalescent
Aid Society, became obsolete. The gift of their $600,000 endowment in
1963 is worth more than $2 million today, and its income has been used
to make grants toward a more vibrant and thriving community for 53
years.
What is more exciting to me is recognizing the
incredible potential of our donors’ investment in our region.
Collectively they have planned to leave this community $300 million
through estate gifts. In 2015 alone, they granted $92.5 million to
causes they care about.
Because of our donors, we have been able to make
investments in the innovative initiatives of local nonprofits who are
committed to their collective impact work. We invest in their
system-level change and attention to education, the environment, job
creation, economic development and more.
Collective impact creates shared outcomes across
sectors, enabling our community to work toward common goals. Since 2011,
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation has invested $3.5 million into these
efforts. In turn, these initiatives leveraged these dollars into $782.8
million for the good of our community. Positive outcomes from this work
include the creation of 83,000 jobs, economic development projects that
are transforming Northern Kentucky, and increased high school graduation
and kindergarten readiness rates.
I’ve met with many of our donors to learn what they
are passionate about. After all, the unique role of The Greater
Cincinnati Foundation is to connect generous people to causes they care
passionately about. That’s how change happens through our role as your
community foundation.