A Foundation. Community. for the 2015 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY st Ave N # 700, Birmingham, AL

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1 A Foundation for the Community 2015 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY st Ave N # 700, Birmingham, AL

2 The community s foundation In 1959, a group of community leaders came together to create a public endowment that would benefit the community for generations to come. These visionary leaders wanted to make sure that our five-county area always had significant, permanent resources to reach out to those in need and to seize opportunities to make life better. In the years since, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has been a catalyst for change, connecting philanthropists and nonprofits, and engaging civic leaders to build a stronger, more vibrant future for our community. We know that won t happen in an instant. Lasting change that transforms is an effort that requires all of us working together, investing in the long-term and exploring new approaches to develop solutions to the biggest challenges facing our community. Through the years, we ve had the honor and privilege of helping thousands of families and businesses frame their charitable goals and create their philanthropic legacies. This year our donors have been remarkably generous, enabling us to award $18 million in grants, adding to our total of more than $357 million in grants to the community since our inception. We welcomed 31 new funds this year, bringing our total assets to $248 million. The Community Foundation has a diverse board of leaders who believe we can do even more by working together as a community. The Birmingham Education Foundation, Breast Cancer Survivorship Initiative and the 3 Parks Initiative (that led to the expansion of Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve and creation of Railroad and Red Mountain Parks) are a few examples of our partnership efforts in recent years. We continue to serve as a leader in strategic philanthropy, expanding our reach beyond grantmaking to include proactive funding, collaborations and advocacy. Some of our recent initiatives are focused on the most pressing issues facing our community: Reducing group related homicides Addressing the needs of our aging population Providing access to mental health care Advocating for payday lending reform Supporting workforce development in the region The impact these initiatives will have on our community is only possible through the involvement of donors who are connected by their passion for making a difference. Thank you for your continued generosity and the trust you have placed in the Community Foundation. We will continue to work together to find sustainable solutions for issues facing our community, and building a permanent source of capital to address those issues. We do this because together we are the catalyst for transformation in our community. HIGHLIGHTS of 2015 * Total Assets: $248 Million Total gifts: $76 Million Total Grants Awarded: $18 Million New Funds: 31 Total Funds: 478 More than $357 Million in grants awarded to the community since1959 The area that we serve is the region in and around Birmingham, Alabama, including Blount, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby and Walker counties. We are able to award grants in these areas thanks to the financial gifts of our donors people who love our community and want to see it thrive. *Unaudited as of 12/31/2015, complete financial information is available on our website at Today, tomorrow and forever. ON THE COVER: In 2015, the Community Foundation awarded a grant to Creative Montessori School (CMS) to support their efforts to expand and improve their campus. The grant provided a spark for the campaign, allowing them to raise the funds needed to begin work on the new location. With the new facility, CMS will provide local opportunities to train and certify Montessori teachers and lay the groundwork to expand Montessori education in the region.

3 Transformative ideas change lives WHAT HAPPENS when you immerse high school students in a world beyond their four walls? You transform their lives, says Mitchie Neel, Director of the Blount County Education Foundation. Through a grant from the Community Foundation, Birmingham-Southern College was able to partner with the Blount County Board of Education and the Education Foundation to develop a blended learning classroom. The goal was to develop relationships between college students and Locust Fork high school students in an effort to boost graduation rates and increase post-secondary opportunities. Locust Fork teacher, Toby Holmes, took the idea a step further and utilized the room for all of his history classes. He worked with Jesse McKneely at Birmingham-Southern to leverage the technology to open up the world for his students. The connections established through this partnership are impacting students on both campuses. Birmingham-Southern students are learning first-hand how to be teachers and leaders. And, in Locust Fork, students like Morgan Hardin who weren t sure about college, have now been accepted to some of the top universities in the state, opening doors to a future they never thought possible. Through our Results Framework grant making, we provided $100,000 in funding to build a blended learning classroom at Locust Fork High School in Blount County. Grants like this are made possible by our donors who invest in the community through unrestricted gifts and in partnership with people like Mitchie Neel of the Blount County Education Foundation and Jesse McKneely from Birmingham-Southern College. They linked the classrooms with video technology that allowed Birmingham-Southern students to mentor the high school s juniors and seniors face-to-face.

4 Engaged donors drive revitalization Stewart Dansby tries out the new Zyp bikes with Tom Cosby of the Lyric Theatre, Deon Gordon from REV Birmingham and Lindsey West and Michael Symes from Zyp BikeShare. Stewart Dansby is a passionate advocate for Birmingham s revitalization. A Community Foundation donor since 2002 and current member of our board of directors, Dansby has supported projects like Railroad Park, Red Rock Trail System, and the Lyric Theater. When he found out that the Zyp BikeShare program could be launched in record time with the help of a grant from the Community Foundation, he partnered with our Giving Together program to make that possible. Engaging donors in causes they care about is part of our role as philanthropic advisors. Through our Giving Together program we help donors learn more about area nonprofits and maximize their giving to support community needs that matter most to them. Since 2008, Giving Together donors have contributed more than $5 million to the Community Foundation s Results Framework grant making programs, focusing dollars and energy on the most relevant opportunities and challenges in our area.

5 Proactive funding impacts an entire community Your life isn t just about you, it s about the people that love you, Carolyn Johnson tells the young men who are identified by the Birmingham Violence Reduction Initiative as the most likely to kill or be killed. She knows because twelve years ago her son was killed in a senseless act of violence. Her life has never been the same. That s why I work with this program, says Carolyn I want these young men to know about a mother s pain and a mother s love. If YOU COULD PREVENT a person from killing someone, would you get involved? This was a question that the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham asked itself in 2014 when we encountered a strategy being used around the country that showed dramatic results in reducing homicides, decreasing incarceration and building police legitimacy. Most important perhaps, it offered those deemed the most likely to kill or be killed, a way out. Thanks to the vision and generosity of our Catalyst Fund Donors and the Alabama Power Foundation, we were able to bring this strategy, called the Birmingham Violence Reduction Initiative (BVRI), to our community. Together with the Mayor s office, Chief of Police, District Attorney, Federal Prosecutor and UAB s Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities, we are working to reduce homicides with a laser-like focus on those most likely to commit the next violent crime. BVRI works by holding street groups (or gangs) accountable for the actions of their members. Using a strategic, data driven approach, law enforcement identifies the small number of group members most responsible for the majority of violent crime. Group members are called in and told the violence must stop. If not, the entire group will be held accountable for even a single member s actions. If group members want to change their lives, support and outreach is there with a genuine offer of help. We believe that, as the community s foundation, we have a responsibility to take a lead in addressing critical issues. Tackling complex ones such as violent crime requires multiple entities and substantial funding. The Community Foundation granted the initial funding and brought together the organizations, civic leaders and individuals to make the intervention possible. We continue to support this initiative by providing ongoing support and leadership. At a time when many cities, including our own, are seeing an increase in homicides, the positive results will not be seen immediately. But working together with this partnership and people like Carolyn Johnson, we are committed to supporting this strategy that reduces homicides and provides a path for those who want to escape the life of violence.

6 Leadership with a vision for the future In Alabama, the percentage of the population age 60 and older is rising at a much faster rate than all other age groups. It is projected to double by This growth will present new opportunities and challenges to our community. Because of increased stress on resources for the elderly, especially the increasing number of frail and disabled older adults, innovative solutions will be required. Recently, the Community Foundation conducted a comprehensive needs assessment of senior adults in our region. We wanted to understand our community s age-friendliness and effectiveness in meeting the needs of our senior population, and work with our nonprofit partners to develop a roadmap for community action. The information from this study is helping to guide us in channeling resources to the most immediate needs like food security, age-friendly housing and transportation. It has led us to plan for future needs by creating an endowed fund for aging issues. This permanent source of funding will help to create positive outcomes for our community s seniors for years to come. The Community Foundation is leading on this issue because we know that lasting change happens through long-term investment in the community an investment that provides substantial, sustainable solutions for our future. Mrs. Ruby Brown was married 67 years ago on the front porch of the Kingston neighborhood home that she lives in to this day. Thanks to the help of Avondale Samaritan Place and other programs supported by grants from the Community Foundation, her home is now more age-friendly, making it easier for her to live there as long as possible.

7 THE EndURINg PowER Of EndowMENT Frank and Margaret Spain believed that those who live well in a community have an obligation to make the community a better place for others. Our community benefited in countless ways from their philanthropic philosophy. Throughout the 1950 s and 60 s, the Spains were involved leaders with a love of education and a commitment to the future of Birmingham. In 1972, the Frank and Margaret Spain Fund was established through a gift in Margaret Spain s will. The gift was unrestricted because they trusted the Community Foundation to carry out their vision for a better future for the community. The gift was also endowed, allowing them to make an impact in many areas of the community long after they were gone. Their gift has helped to fund projects like Innovation Depot, the McWane Science Center and Railroad Park; as well as provide support for community challenges that didn t even exist in The Spains gift also sparked the growth of the foundation s Community Fund that powers our results framework competitive grant making. Over the years, it has been pooled with other gifts to make grants targeting high-impact, broad-reaching initiatives. Endowed funds like this are the most timeless in terms of community impact because they allow the foundation to address emerging community challenges. Thanks to the enduring power of endowment, over the last 40 years, the Frank and Margaret Spain Fund has grown to $21 million and generated more than $35 million in strategic grants. And because of the power of endowment, the Frank and Margaret Spain Fund is a gift that will continue to grow and benefit our community for years to come. $3 MILLION ORIGINAL GIFT Trust brings a gift that changes the $35 MILLION GRANTS SINCE 1972 The fund grants out more than a million dollars each year to benefit our community $21 MILLION CURRENT VALUE community forever

8 Partners in giving EDUCATION WAS ALWAYS IMPORTANT to Ruby and John Ansley. So recently, Sallie Aman, the donor advisor for the Ansley s fund, partnered with the Community Foundation through our Giving Together program to help fund a grant to PreSchool Partners. This grant helped support their campaign to build a permanent home for the program and provide a quality preschool education that is often out of reach for many Birmingham families. A Partnership creates a Legacy Ruby Ansley had exquisite taste. You could see it in the items she chose for her interior decorating business and in the homes she helped to design. But it was perhaps most obvious in the friends she chose. Like Sallie Aman, who came to work with her the day after she graduated from the University of Alabama in 1964, became her partner in business and continues to operate Ruby Ansley Interiors to this day. It is a partnership that has gone beyond business. When Mrs. Ansley died in 2012, she named Sallie the donor advisor on the Ruby S. and John P. Ansley Fund that she and her husband had established at the Community Foundation. It is a significant fund that supports causes Ruby and John were passionate about. Through her trust in the advice of her longtime business partner and the guidance of the Community Foundation, Mrs. Ansley knew that her legacy of giving to the causes she cared about would be supported for generations to come. Sallie Aman, Owner, Ruby Ansley Interiors CREaTINg YOUR legacy The Community Foundation has hundreds of funds. Some have very specific purposes. Others provide resources we use to address the community s greatest needs. You can add to any of our existing funds or establish a new one with a gift today or through your estate plan. Utilizing any of these funds to endow your gift will ensure that your philanthropic legacy benefits the community in perpetuity. Unrestricted Funds: A powerful way for donors to invest in community needs, guided by the knowledge and expertise of the Community Foundation staff to make the greatest impact possible. Unrestricted gifts ensure there will be resources tomorrow for needs that do not currently exist. Field of Interest: Many donors have a specific area of philanthropic interest they want to support; a Field of Interest Fund allows them to do this without having to specify any particular organization. Donor Advised: These funds allow individuals, families and businesses to be part of the work of the Community Foundation, while also supporting their favorite charities and organizations. Donor Advised Funds are like having a private foundation but with greater tax advantages and fewer administrative burdens. Designated: Donors can choose to create a long-term charitable resource to benefit one or more nonprofits. The work that we do is only possible through the generosity and trust of our donors. To find out how you can be a part of the community s foundation, please contact us for a confidential consultation. I