Last month, we published our newest annual report sharing summaries of our work, thoughts from our board and supporters, and most importantly, celebrating all our community made possible over the last fiscal year!
If you haven't had a chance to check out this year's report, you should! But until then, here's a sneak peak at some key highlights.
1) SACF is GROWING.
SACF continues to see its supporter base grow! We are so grateful to see more and more residents supporting philanthropy in our local communities year after year.
Last year, the Community Foundation worked with individuals and families to establish 12 new endowment funds— that’s a dozen new opportunities to award grants, support scholarships for local students, and improve quality of life locally! We also saw the number of people making gifts to the Foundation grow by 25%. That’s a significant increase in supporters. All gifts, no matter how large or small, add up in big ways to support local needs.
To learn more about how SACF contributions make a direct impact in our community, or to view a full donor list, click here.
2) SACF is EVOLVING.
This past fiscal year was an exciting a busy time for our organization! With funding from the Council of Michigan Foundations, our Trustees and local advisory boards worked together to develop a new three-year strategic plan. That plan has included the addition of a new staff member, our Programs Coordinator Anna Brand. We also reworked our mission statement to better reflect our purpose and more effectively communicate who we are.
“SACF’s mission is to make a positive, lasting impact in local communities through charitable giving, leadership, and action.”
3) SACF is INCREASING IMPACT.
More than $1M in grants were awarded to 41 agencies last year supporting initiatives in education, health, human services, the arts and more. Additionally, $160,000 was delivered to local students through SACF scholarship programs!
We continue to evaluate our grant and scholarship programs in an effort to make them more effective and efficient for those we serve. In fact, this month we launched a brand new grants application portal to provide nonprofits with a more user-friendly grant application process. Additionally, we introduced a new Micro-Grants program which offers a streamlined application for requests of up to $5,000. We hope to see that program benefit smaller organizations while also providing SACF donors the opportunity to connect to more projects.
4) SACF is CELEBRATING.
The Sturgis Area Community Foundation turned 60-years-old in June! We celebrated 60 years of impact at the Sturges-Young Center of the Arts in May and then helped our affiliates at the Constantine Area Community Foundation celebrate 25 years with a community event on the Fourth of July.
It’s inspiring to be a part of a community where people genuinely want to help one another and whose residents see the value in investing in our collective future – that’s definitely something to keep celebrating!
Through philanthropic services, strategic investments, and community leadership, Sturgis Area Community Foundation helps people support the causes they care about, now and for generations to come. For more information on grants or donor services, email sacf@sturgisfoundation.org.