Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to Leadership Door County

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded Leadership Door County a Sustainability Grant from the Clifford and Clara Herlache Heritage Foundation. This grant will support activities for Leadership Door County’s session devoted to the History of Door County.

History Day acquaints class members with an overview of Door County history and some of the organizations and community leaders who convey historical knowledge. The day’s activities are chosen to help class members more fully understand immigration patterns and economic activity.

“During History Day, Leadership Door County class members are exposed to a variety of resources and speakers that help them understand the vast history of our county,” said Marcia Smith, Vice Chair of the Door County Community Foundation. “This is a critical session for the beginning of the class year as it provides a foundation of the other sessions and topics that will be covered throughout the year.”

From left to right: Marcia Smith, Board Member of the Door County Community Foundation and Dawn Vandevoort, Leadership Door County Board president Leadership Door County brings together community members who have diverse viewpoints to become stronger leaders and to understand community issues through experiential education.

For more information about Leadership Door County, please visit www.leadershipdoorcounty.com or call 920.255.7233.

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Education Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Healthy Water Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit http://www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County. The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $18 million in charitable assets.

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Community Foundation Awards Sustainability Grant to Door County Library Foundation

The Door County Community Foundation has awarded the Door County Library a Sustainability Grant from the Children and Youth Fund. This grant will be used to purchase supplies for the Learning Resource Center, commonly called the Toy Barn.

The Toy Barn at the Door County Library’s Sturgeon Bay branch is a community resource filled with educational toys available for check out to families in the community.

“Research shows that play is a crucial focus for early literacy development,” said Richard Hauser, Board Member of the Door County Community Foundation. “The Toy Barn at the Door County Library is an important resource for our community members.”

From left to right: Beth Lokken, Youth Services Librarian of the Door County Library and Richard Hauser, Board Member of the Door County Community Foundation.

The Door County Library is uniquely qualified to collect, organize and circulate toys and games to the families in Door County. The staff is familiar with curating collections of materials. The process is much the same for toys as it is for books, magazines, electronic resources, or any other materials collected and circulated by the Library. The Library searches for materials that will entertain, educate or inspire the families in Door County. Most of the toys and games in the Toy Bar can be transported to the other branches of the Door County Library and are browse-able using the library catalog.

For more information about the Door County Library or the Learning Resource Center, please visit http://www.doorcountylibrary.com or call 920.743.6578.

The Door County Community Foundation’s Sustainability Grants program distributes grant dollars from funds such as the Arts Fund, Children & Youth Fund, Education Fund, Green Fund, Health & Human Needs Fund, Healthy Water Fund, Historic Preservation Fund, and the Women’s Fund.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s services and various grant programs, please visit http://www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County. The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $18 million in charitable assets.

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Cause Marketing – Good for Business, Not Always for Charity

When a business affiliates its brand with a beloved charity, it’s good for the company’s bottom line. Countless studies have conclusively shown that consumers are far more willing to spend money at a business if they know a percentage of their purchase is going to a nonprofit organization they respect.

Unfortunately, evidence is mounting that what’s good for business is not always good for charity.

These kinds of business-charity relationships are called “Cause Marketing” (or “Cause-Related Marketing”). It’s when a restaurant donates 10 percent of sales to charity this weekend. Or a bar donates $2 whenever a particular cocktail is sold on Friday night. These are easy ways for a business to affiliate its brand with a respected nonprofit while also generating a few dollars for the nonprofit organization in the process.

While every charity should recognize and honor the spirit behind these generous offers, handled improperly, Cause Marketing has the potential to offend some of an organization’s existing donors and can actually diminish overall giving.

Problem 1: It’s Potentially Disrespectful to Existing Donors

Consider, for instance, the owner of ABC Café. She loves and appreciates what her favorite charity does for Door County and thus makes a very generous contribution of $10,000. There are no conditions on this gift and she has no expectation of any special treatment.

Then the owner of XYZ Bistro offers to donate 15 percent of all dinner sales on Friday night to that same charity. He says that the total contribution might be as large as $1,000. However, in exchange for this gift, he expects that the charity publicly encourages its donors to eat at XYZ Bistro.

The concern is that when a charity encourages its donors to spend money at XYZ Bistro, at the very least, this is disrespectful and unfair to the owner of ABC Café who made a far larger gift without any expectation of free publicity. At worst, this kind of Cause Marketing relationship might even offend the owner of ABC Café and result in the loss of a generous friend.

Problem 2: It Can Reduce Overall Donations

Imagine that a company, Acme Lawn Maintenance, announces a Cause Marketing event in which 10 percent of every new annual lawn treatment contract will be donated to a Door County nonprofit. The nonprofit thus decides to promote this offer to its database of donors. As a result, one of its existing donors who typically makes a charitable donation of $250 every year decides to sign up with Acme Lawn Maintenance. The donor thus spends $1,000 on a new annual lawn treatment contract.

Later, when the nonprofit sends its annual fundraising letter, that same donor concludes he’s already given enough this year because he spent $1,000 on lawn maintenance to benefit the charity. In fact, the donor feels as if he’s made a larger contribution than in years past because he’s out $1,000 when in reality his purchase only generated $100 (10 percent of $1,000) for charity. That results in a net loss of $150 to the organization.

Rather than making both a purchase and a subsequent direct donation, people are increasingly considering their purchase as their donation. The researchers refer to this as the Cause Marketing Paradox. Consumers think of their purchase as a charitable act and decrease subsequent charitable acts. This can result in a net reduction in total donations from an individual donor.

Suggested Cause Marketing Guidelines

Every charity should honor the generous spirit that drives business owners who want to donate a percentage of sales, but nonprofits must also be mindful of the pitfalls of entering into a Cause Marketing relationship. Here are some simple guidelines that organizations can use when partnering with a business.

• The charity should be appreciative of businesses that wish to host a Cause Marketing activity but generally refrain from promoting the activity itself. If a restaurant wants to donate 10 percent of sales on a particular night and promote the event to its own customers, the charity should be deeply thankful for this generous act. However, the key here is that it is the business promoting the event to its own customers. The charity plays no formal or public role telling its own existing donors to eat at a particular restaurant.
• The charity should generally refrain from publicly encouraging its donors to purchase goods or services at one for-profit business rather than another. A respected charity will receive contributions from individuals and businesses all across a community. Inevitably, its donors will include businesses that are in direct competition with one another. The charity can and should publicly thank its business donors, but it is normally inappropriate for a charity to encourage its donors to shop, eat or otherwise buy services at one business over another.
• The charity’s public recognition of a Cause Marketing relationship should be generally consistent with how it publicly celebrates any donor that makes a similar size contribution. For instance, if the restaurant’s commitment to donating 10 percent of sales generates a $1,000 donation, then the charity should recognize the restaurant as it would any donor of $1,000. If the charity publicly celebrates its $1,000 donors in its newsletter and social media accounts, then it makes sense to do so for the restaurant as well. However, it is normally unfair to publicly celebrate the restaurant any more – or any less – than the charity would do for another donor who made a gift of the same size.

Adopting simple guidelines like these will allow a charity to celebrate and thank the generous business owners of Door County in a manner which is both fair and respectful to all concerned.

This article, by President of CEO of the Door County Community Foundation Bret Bicoy, originally appeared in the Peninsula Pulse.

Create a Piece of Artwork and Earn Money for Your Favorite Door County Charity

The Community Foundation invites artists to submit their original artwork for inclusion in the Final Report of the Discuss Door County: Growing Older Initiative. The Community Foundation will donate $250 to each Door County charity or school selected by the artists whose work is included in the published Final Report. We expect to select 10 original paintings, sketches, sculptures and/or poems.

Discuss Door County is the banner under which the Door County Community Foundation listens to the community. Throughout 2016, community gathered together to share their aspirations and visions for us as we grow older together as part of Discuss Door County: Growing Older in Door County. The Final Report is an outgrowth of that work. Rather than releasing a dry report, the Community Foundation wants to add the flavor that is so indicative of Door County and enhance the report with artwork and creativity.

A public reception to release the Final Report and unveil the artwork will be held on May 9th, 2016 at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm.

The Community Foundation will accept original works of art that highlight any 1 of the 3 important themes of this work. Namely, an intergenerational community, the beauty of Door County, and/or connecting people.

Paintings and sketches should be on canvas, framed, or otherwise ready for public display. Sculptures should be display-ready as well. Pieces should be delivered to the Community Foundation at 342 Louisiana St., Sturgeon Bay by Wednesday, March 15th. Original poetry should be in an electronic form to kacie@givedoorcounty.org.

While the artist will retain ownership of the artwork, the Community Foundation will be assuming the unlimited right to reproduce the artwork in furtherance of its charitable mission.

Community Invited to Opening Reception for Artists Karen Lee Denoto and Renee Schwaller

The community is invited to attend a reception on Saturday, January 21st from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Door County Community Foundation. The reception celebrates the Lobby Gallery Winter Exhibition featuring works by Karen Lee DeNoto and Renee Schwaller. The Community Foundation is located at 342 Louisiana Street in Sturgeon Bay, across the street from the Post Office.

Karen Lee Denoto is a native New Englander who has made Door County her home. Karen Lee spent over 20 years in the graphic arts business working with museums, publishers and artists. “A passion is a gift that demands you to embrace it if you are to find your authenticity and inner joy and peace,” says DeNoto. “Door County fuels that passion with its natural beauty. The creativity and synergistic energy on the peninsula is seductive and inspiring.”

Renee Schwaller, owner of Off the Wheel Pottery, has her B. A. in communications from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and studied pottery at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis and the University of Hawaii. “The entire collection of work is created from start to finish in the studio at my home and business,” says Schwaller. “This allows me to draw inspiration from my natural surroundings and the simple things in that bring me joy.”

The Community Foundation’s reception is being coordinated with the “Prints Matter, Master Mimics” exhibition at the Miller Art Museum earlier that same evening. The exhibition will bring together twenty-two master Midwestern printmakers who are inspired by the masters of printmaking through time. Guests are encouraged to visit Sturgeon Bay and drop by both the Miller Art Museum and the Community Foundation Lobby Gallery opening receptions.

Refreshments will be served at the Door County Community Foundation by Morag Hornsby and her team at Serves You Right Catering.

Each quarter, different Door County artists will be invited to exhibit their work. The Gallery is normally open to the public during the Community Foundation’s regular hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information about the Community Foundation’s various grant programs, visit www.GiveDoorCounty.org.

The Door County Community Foundation, Inc. is a collection of separate charitable
funds set up by individuals, families, non-profit organizations, private foundations and businesses that are managed, invested and disbursed for the current and future good of Door County. The Foundation was launched in 1999 and currently administers more than $17 million in charitable assets.

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