Supporting our donors and fundholders with improved services …
Since the year began, the Foundation has put the finishing touches on its 2024-2026 Strategic Plan, which highlights our commitment to continuous improvement in all areas of Foundation operations and services to its donors, fundholders, nonprofits, and all residents across Spartanburg County.
We have continued educating fundholders and donors about the new opportunity to partner with Abundance Capital to provide grants to new projects in the community. Our January 24th event highlighted partnership projects underway with Upstate Warrior Solution and the Aden Bonded Warehouse Project. If you missed the event, you can watch a recording of the event and reach out to Karen Nichols, our Vice-President of Philanthropic Services if you have any questions.
Our 2024 Document Shredding Day, was a success. With your help, we have saved eleven trees, promoted personal data safety, and supported stewardship of our natural environment. Participating fundholders were selected at random to choose a nonprofit organization to receive a $1,000 JUST BECAUSE grant. The Landon Cohen Community Health Fund was selected by Carolyn Ragin. The Walnut Grove Fund was selected by Phil and Nancy Sinclair. The Hub City Writers Project was selected by Amanda Rosa. The Mary Black College of Nursing (through the USC Upstate Foundation) was selected by Susan and the late William Pinckney Irwin.
In May, the Foundation held a JUST BECAUSE grants distribution event, surprising five area nonprofits with $2,500 grants each. LISC Upstate SC, the Upstate Family Resource Center, Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE), Temple Education Ministries H.O.P.E. Soup Kitchen, and Carolina Miracle League, Inc. received the grants with no restrictions placed on the use of the funds. WYFF News 4 shared information about JUST BECAUSE DAY on its newscast.
We have launched GoDonate to improve the ease with which donors can give to funds held at the Foundation in conjunction with opening our refreshed website (still spcf.org!). Through GoDonate, we now offer a Fund Catalog, searchable to key word(s) and a feature where donors can search by their area of interest.
Many fundholders have provided a photo or logo and updated information about their funds that are part of the Fund Catalog and their fund-specific landing page. Having a fund-specific landing page allows fundholders to share their link directly with potential donors. This is particularly helpful for those with designated, agency, and scholarship funds.
For fundholders, we now provide email confirmation when the grants they have requested have been distributed. Scholarship fundholders also receive emailed notifications when scholarship awards have been mailed. Students receiving scholarships are also notified by email when funds have been sent to their school. The FundWeb portal, used by fundholders to monitor their fund balances and transactions, is still just a single click away on our website’s home page.
Our updated website provides easier access to information about the Foundation, its resources and activities, and impact. We have streamlined the process for making reservations for meeting spaces available in the Robert Hett Chapman III Center for Philanthropy and include details and photos for each room. We encourage you to spend time on the site, refreshing your knowledge about the Foundation and its work. As we continue to add resources to the site, feel free to reach out to Kim Atchley, our Communications Officer, if there is information you did not find that you were looking for.
Our goal is to always provide the best support possible for our donors and fundholders, responding to their needs, as we work together to support our community.