2013 Recipients of National Life Group Foundation Grants

Transcription

1 Annual Report 2013

2 2013 Recipients of National Life Group Foundation Grants January 1, 2013-December 31, 2013 Aldrich Public Library Alliance for Children Amazing Surf Adventures American Cancer Society American Red Cross Beloit College Boys & Girls Club of Rutland County Cambridge Fire Department Camp Ta-Kum-Ta Capital City Concerts Center for Sustainable Systems Central Vermont Community Action Council Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice Champlain College Champlain Philharmonic Chandler Center for the Arts Cobleigh Public Library Community College of Vermont Community of Vermont Elders Connecticut College Doctors Without Borders Faith in Action Northern Communities Partnership Girls and Boyz First Mentoring Governor s Institutes of Vermont Grand Valley State University Greater Barre Community Justice Center Greater Burlington YMCA Hamilton College Hannah s House Inc. Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake Keeping Track, Inc. Leahy Center for Lake Champlain ME2/orchestra, Inc. Middlebury College Morrisville Fire Department New York State Association of Chiefs of Police North Texas Food Bank Northeast Kingdom Astronomy Foundation, Inc. Orchestra Engagement Lab People s Health & Wellness Clinic Pewaukee Food Pantry Richard Gloria Memorial Scholarship Fund River Arts of Morrisville, Inc. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Burlington, VT, Inc. Shader Croft School Somali Bantu Community Association of Vermont, Inc. Spectrum Youth and Family Services St. Joseph Catholic Church St. Joseph s Preparatory School Stowe Rescue Stowe Volunteer Firefighters Association Inc. Studio Place Arts The Arts Bus Project, Inc. The Green Mountain Youth Symphony, Inc. The Laura Kate Winterbottom Memorial Fund, Inc. The Vermont Agency Foundation University of Rochester, William E. Simon School of Business Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired Vermont Campus Compact Vermont Children s Trust Foundation Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont Creativity Quest, Inc. Vermont Historical Society Vermont Horse Assisted Therapy Vermont Humanities Council Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Inc. Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra Vermont Public Television Vermont Youth Conservation Corps Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties Washington County Youth Service Bureau Waterbury Fire Department These grants include memorial donations in memory of National Life Group employees or an immediate deceased family member, employee education matching grants, and grants made to qualifying nonprofit organization in central and northern Vermont and the Dallas, Texas area.

3 The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination. Maya Angelou Over the past few years, the impact of our local non-profits has become exceptionally apparent to me. Meeting with leaders and volunteers of many of these organizations, seeing their passion and dedication to their chosen cause and their desire to simply make a difference is inspirational. And there s certainly no shortage for the need to make a difference. The wage gap continues to grow and too many people are falling in. The services, support, and sacrifices the non-profits our Foundation provides grants to in order to help those who stumble are invaluable. Our communities are stronger because of each one. In 2012 our board of directors recognized the immense good that s done through non-profits and agreed to increase the funding of our Foundation from $350,000 to $500,000, effective January 1, This increase allowed us to support additional Vermont-based organizations as well as begin to support non-profits in the Dallas, Texas area where National Life Group has a large campus. We celebrated our entry into Dallas by holding a press conference (see next page) and highlighting the first three organizations we gave grants to: Communities in Schools Dallas Region, Community Partners of Dallas, and Heart of a Warrior Foundation. Each of these worthy organizations helps at-risk children through proven programs, a focus our Foundation is committed to. In addition to expanding our presence to Dallas, we expanded our Foundation s family. Ross Sneyd joined the Foundation in 2013 as Vice President. Ross has been with National Life Group for over a year and prior to that worked for Vermont Public Radio. He is a well respected member of our Vermont and National Life Group community. We re thrilled to have him on board as we continue to live our core values of Do good. Be good. Make good. in all we do. Beth Rusnock President, National Life Group Foundation

4 Our Focus The National Life Group Foundation provides support for non-profit organizations to explore or undertake new work or do their current work more effectively through innovative programs. Environment/Outdoors:.90% National Life Group Foundation Board of Directors: Tom MacLeay Mehran Assadi Chris Graff Beth Rusnock Health: 17.71% Emergency/Urgent Needs: 3.74% Memorial: 2.4% Education: 11.32% Education Matching:.93% The Arts: 12.34% Operating Expenses: 1.68% Kids and Families: 51.14% Representatives from the first three Dallas-area non-profits funded are lauded at a press conference at National Life Group s Dallas campus with Wade Mayo, EVP, National Life Group, Mehran Assadi, President and CEO, National Life Group, and Beth Rusnock, President of the National Life Group Foundation.

5 Positive Growth In 2013, we awarded 128 grants to dozens of organizations; this is a 61% increase over the number we made in This growth is due in part to the expanded focus of our Foundation in Texas. It also reflects our increased brand awareness and presence in central and northern Vermont. While our budget did increase from 2012 to 2013, the number of requests offset the amount we were able to give to many, resulting in smaller average grants. Our community spirit is also growing in terms of volunteer hours logged by our employees. Each National Life Group employee is encouraged to take 40 hours of company-paid volunteer time annually. In 2013, the number of hours taken grew by 387 which translates to almost two full months of volunteer time. Finally we also witnessed an increase in our Community Giving Campaign which allows National Life Group employees to donate to the non-profit of their choice through payroll deduction. Last year, the amount our team members gave to their chosen organizations grew by 12%. 128 grants were given in This is a 61% increase over the number we made in All of this adds up to a lot of good done for our communities and those who live there. NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS APPROVED AVERAGE AMOUNT FUNDED $3, $4, $4,304 $3,800 $3,900 $4,000 $4,100 $4,200 $4,300 $4,400

6 How to Apply for a National Life Group Foundation Grant An organization applying for a grant must be designated a 501(c)(3) entity under the Internal Revenue Code. Although we consider proposals in any field, our concentration is children and families. The following are the major considerations we will use to evaluate your proposal: Is it compatible with our guidelines? Is the need being addressed well-documented? Is there a base of support for the agency addressing the need? Is there evidence of collaboration with others? Is there committed leadership available? How does the project foster healthy and vital communities? To access our online application, please visit our website at How to Apply for Sponsorships and In-Kind Gifts The National Life Group Community Outreach Program is in recognition that organizations often have needs other than funding through grants. To meet some of these needs we ve developed the following opportunities: Event sponsorship Meeting spaces In-kind items such as office furniture and computers Our application is online. All requests (see list above) need to be made online. See our Community Outreach page for more information: Each of these requires a different application process and information. For example, requests for sponsoring an event require a summary of the event (who, what, where, when, why), a sample event packet in draft form or one from the previous year, sponsorship levels, etc. Specific instructions for each can be found on our website outreach.asp.

7 12% more employee donations to non-profits than in Shown above: Kids and families enjoying the annual Everybody Wins VT! read-a-thon at National Life Group s headquarters in Montpelier. Photo by Lindsey Rusnock. Cover photo by Sonya Creel On next page: National Life Group team members Robin Dowling, Amanda Atwood, and Sandy Meyerhofer volunteering at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps farm.

8 National Life Group is a trade name representing various affiliates which offer a variety of financial service products MK10620(0614) TC80357(0614)3