Community Care

KC Spirit Finds Effectiveness

by Janice C. Kreamer


There is no greater challenge, yet no greater reward, than to provide insights into our community's biggest problems and work alongside our friends and neighbors to address them.

When Ingram's began 30 years ago, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation didn't exist. While the local nonprofit field has changed a lot since then, Kansas City's traditional spirit of giving is stronger than ever. That tradition of pulling together for the greater good has a long and proud history, from our earliest days as a trading post fighting back floodwaters, to reconstructing Convention Hall out of its ashes in time for the 1900 Democratic National Convention. In the last three decades, Kansas City has learned how to harness its tremendous giving power by encouraging more people to give more often to effective nonprofits. Today the business of doing good is more professional, reliable, and measurable than ever before.

In 1978, the Community Foundation began with an extraordinary idea: Giving to our community should be the responsibility of many, not a select few. Seven Kansas City civic leaders believed in this vision and passed a hat, collecting $219.13 and a few foreign coins. While many of these civic leaders had private foundations of their own, they realized a community foundation was uniquely qualified to encourage more people to discover the rich rewards that result from charitable giving. Today the Community Found-ation manages more than $725 million in assets through approximately 1,500 charitable funds established by individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Our goal is to empower donors to use their funds to effectively fulfill their personal dreams of making a difference in our community.

Because of the foresight of our founders and the passion of our donors over the years, Kansas Citians once again can listen to jazz in the 18th & Vine District, enjoy the renewed beauty of Union Station, and continue to cheer the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City is known as a child opportunity capital, thanks to programs such as the Partnership for Children and YouthFriends, which began at the Foundation. In 2003 alone, our donors and funds award- ed approximately $103 million in grants.

The Community Foundation is recogniz-ed nationally as a philanthropic leader. We continue to explore new ways to encourage and expand philanthropy within our region, including development of the DonorEdgeSM resource to provide donors with in-depth information about local nonprofits. We've also established affiliates in Johnson County, Wyandotte County, the Northland, and Lee's Summit.

There is no greater challenge, yet no greater reward, than to provide insights into our community's biggest problems and work alongside our friends and neighbors to address them. We've worked with community partners and nationally recognized researchers to identify five key issues we can effectively impact on an organizational level:

Each represents an important opportunity for our diverse community to work together to secure a better future for everyone in the region. We work with donors to see how their charitable interests may align with these issues and utilize our limited unrestricted funds to encourage additional investment. Since the report was published, Greater Kansas City has made measurable progress in im-proving urban education, bringing grassroots arts projects to the community, and turning undesirable neighborhoods into thriving and desirable places to live and work.

Yet as much progress as we've made, challenges remain, including efforts to improve transportation, support the arts and education, and, especially, improve race relations. Much like the Steamboat Arabia in the muddy Missouri, as a community we remain stuck on this issue. We must recognize divisions still exist. Only through shared experiences and public dialogue will we break down barriers.

We hope you'll join us as we continue to pass the hat and extend the Kansas City tradition of giving, so more people get involved and give more often, and our community grows stronger for generations to come.

Janice C. Kreamer is president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Community Found-ation. She may be reached at 816.627.3435 or by e-mail at kreamer@gkccf.org.