The title of this blog is borrowed from an article on the web site of the CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY that is about the Giving Pledge that garnered a great deal of news coverage on Wednesday. This article discusses how much the idea of philanthropy has evolved since 1899 when Andrew Carnegie attempted to persuade some of his rich friends to give away some of their money.
While the article catches my interest because of my involvement with The Byerly Foundation, it is also of most interest because I serve as a board member from Darlington County on the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation. The ECCF is the first community foundation to be established to serve the Pee Dee of South Carolina. The Eastern Carolina Community Foundation, which was founded in 2006, joins at least seven other community foundations in South Carolina. Those Foundation in total have assets of more than $350 million in philanthropic funds. The largest community foundation in the State is the Coastal Community Foundation, which is located in Charleston, SC with assets around the $110 million mark.
The purpose of community foundations is to make philanthropy efficient, effective and energizing for both the donors and the communities and projects they serve. Donors can set up dedicated funds that are managed by the Foundation, allowing them to let the paperwork and the worries rest with the Foundation while the donors get a say in helping direct the monies to those areas they most want to serve.
There is a lot more to the story of community foundations in general and the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation in particular. Anyone wishing to know more about the ECCF, which is headquartered in Florence, should call Susan Bankston, executive director, at 843-667-1131. A major advantage of the community foundation concept is that the funds develop much more power working together than they can ever have alone.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Community Building requires Community Storytellers
In a recent email from THE NONPROFIT QUARTERLY magazine they had an archived article about the need for story telling when it comes to building momentum. Seems to me one of the things lacking today in the discourse that is disguised as dialog is a context. Stories help us provide context.
We are in meetings a lot as people around Hartsville work to find ways to make this community even better. Sometimes we hear great stories, most of the time we hear opinions. The article in NPQ does provide some real food for builing a story-telling skill. Susan Nall Bliss wrote the article and she built a case for why stories are important and also provided examples from some master journalistic story tellers. Here is a paragraph sort of setting up the need for story telling: In the opening pages of Tropic of Capricorn, Henry Miller famously intones, “I will give you Horatio Alger as he looks the day after the Apocalypse.” Miller was castigating the inability of the myth of the Rugged Individual or the Self-Making Person to capture the reality of life for many Americans in the 1930s. A contemporary update might read, “I will give you the Ownership Society as it looks the day after the levees broke.” That story, still in the making, would focus our attention on the things we must do together, because they cannot be done individually: from building roads and a reliable healthcare infrastructure to improving schools and repairing the ladder of opportunity in our society.
I recommend this article and then I recommend HartsvilleToday as a place to put some of these stories that can be told for our community and some of the stories that you might imagine if we don't continue to pay attention to positive growth in our community.
We are in meetings a lot as people around Hartsville work to find ways to make this community even better. Sometimes we hear great stories, most of the time we hear opinions. The article in NPQ does provide some real food for builing a story-telling skill. Susan Nall Bliss wrote the article and she built a case for why stories are important and also provided examples from some master journalistic story tellers. Here is a paragraph sort of setting up the need for story telling: In the opening pages of Tropic of Capricorn, Henry Miller famously intones, “I will give you Horatio Alger as he looks the day after the Apocalypse.” Miller was castigating the inability of the myth of the Rugged Individual or the Self-Making Person to capture the reality of life for many Americans in the 1930s. A contemporary update might read, “I will give you the Ownership Society as it looks the day after the levees broke.” That story, still in the making, would focus our attention on the things we must do together, because they cannot be done individually: from building roads and a reliable healthcare infrastructure to improving schools and repairing the ladder of opportunity in our society.
I recommend this article and then I recommend HartsvilleToday as a place to put some of these stories that can be told for our community and some of the stories that you might imagine if we don't continue to pay attention to positive growth in our community.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Economic Development Meeting is about survival
There is a task force that is working on the question of Economic Development for the city of Hartsville. This is a fairly large task force and we just had a meeting on Monday, which was a good way to start August.
It is always a bit exciting to discuss the things that might come to be with a focused effort. Always, the students at Coker, the students at GSSM, the students at HHS when asked what we need in Hartsville say CHICK FIL A and we spent a good bit of discussion time wondering how to gain some attention from those who establish new Chick-Fil-A operations around the Southeast.
And, we also spent some time reminding ourselves that Hartsville has a strong base from which to work on these questions. When you compare the Hartsville downtown to other small-city downtowns around the state you can see there is a foundation. And, as a foundation you can then notice that people will and do invest their money in their dreams for prosperity in Hartsville. Frogmores, for example, just opened a fine-dinging establishment. A few weeks ago a new jewelry store opened its doors in our downtown. The weekend brings activities, like Hartsville Idol, which will have a rare two-night event this Friday and Saturday.
These new businesses and activities add to the businesses and activities that have made Hartsville different from other towns our size. And, as the Mayor mentioned during this meeting, a quick drive through other small towns will quickly show you why we see such potential in Hartsville. But, without those who have dreams of what can prosper Hartsville can quickly become those small, getting-smaller towns that dot the landscape all over the South and all over America. Economic development is an activity that needs our constant attention as community builders. Taking advantage of the uniqueness that is our small city is also something that will help keep those dreamers coming and keep the dreamers who have invested thinking about expanding in this city. So, if you ever think, "I wonder how I can help?" a great way is to visit and buy at a Hartsville business and then find those who are working on ideas and add some of your own input. Enhancing quality of life in small communities is a daily chore.
It is always a bit exciting to discuss the things that might come to be with a focused effort. Always, the students at Coker, the students at GSSM, the students at HHS when asked what we need in Hartsville say CHICK FIL A and we spent a good bit of discussion time wondering how to gain some attention from those who establish new Chick-Fil-A operations around the Southeast.
And, we also spent some time reminding ourselves that Hartsville has a strong base from which to work on these questions. When you compare the Hartsville downtown to other small-city downtowns around the state you can see there is a foundation. And, as a foundation you can then notice that people will and do invest their money in their dreams for prosperity in Hartsville. Frogmores, for example, just opened a fine-dinging establishment. A few weeks ago a new jewelry store opened its doors in our downtown. The weekend brings activities, like Hartsville Idol, which will have a rare two-night event this Friday and Saturday.
These new businesses and activities add to the businesses and activities that have made Hartsville different from other towns our size. And, as the Mayor mentioned during this meeting, a quick drive through other small towns will quickly show you why we see such potential in Hartsville. But, without those who have dreams of what can prosper Hartsville can quickly become those small, getting-smaller towns that dot the landscape all over the South and all over America. Economic development is an activity that needs our constant attention as community builders. Taking advantage of the uniqueness that is our small city is also something that will help keep those dreamers coming and keep the dreamers who have invested thinking about expanding in this city. So, if you ever think, "I wonder how I can help?" a great way is to visit and buy at a Hartsville business and then find those who are working on ideas and add some of your own input. Enhancing quality of life in small communities is a daily chore.
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