Beverly the Philanthropist

Hello, blogging world - Curt Hanson here! I’ve only been with the Initiative Foundation a little over five years. Before coming here, I thought the word “philanthropist” referred to Bill Gates or Paul Newman (you know, the kind of folks who get mentioned for sponsoring PBS programs.) Then I met Beverly.

Well actually . . . we haven’t met in person. In fact, I had quite a few conversations and e-mail exchanges with her attorney before she and I ever corresponded. Beverly lives in Washington (the state), but she’s from central Minnesota. She has fond memories of her home town and, as she is getting along in years, wants to do something good there. So Beverly has created a scholarship at her old high school that will help kids achieve something precious . . . something Beverly wanted very much in her own life, but could not fulfill . . . a college education.

Ever thought of yourself as a “philanthropist?” I don’t think Beverly Pantzke Johnston did. But I’ll bet kids attending Little Falls High School will come to know her that way. And I hope someday they’ll “pay Beverly forward!”

Bang for Your Buck

Getting a healthy return on your investment is a big thing these days. Recently, we did some recalculations and discovered that last year our donors received a whopping 559% ROI.

So basically for every dollar that local individuals, businesses, cities and utilities gave to the foundation, we gave back an average of $5.59 through grants and business loans. What's more, every gift to our general endowment was (and still is) doubled by a matching contribution from The McKnight Foundation. Talk about bang for your buck! So take a gander... how did your county do?

3 Girls, 2 Solar Panels, 1 Minute

In between important calls on the crimson Batphone, I finally caught up to Chris Fastner regarding VISTA impact. Turns out, as expected, that our poster child for poverty reduction is the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) in Pine River.

Since 2000, RREAL has battled fuel-poverty with the power of the sun. With four Initiative Foundation VISTAs rolling up their sleeves, RREAL designed its own residential solar heating system and installed it in more than 60 low-income homes at little or no charge.

Its goal is to complete 100 more installations in 2009.

The solar panels serve as a simple sidekick to a home heating system and reduce a family's heating bills by up to 25 percent, often eliminating their need for public fuel assistance. And it's all done with clean, renewable energy.

Their current VISTA is the talented Tina Schilawski, who put together this cool video of a solar installation. She's the one in the gray stocking cap. Yo.



RREAL was also the Initiative Foundation's 2009 Outstanding Green Venture. Here's the award video shown at our big event in April, which cast a light on one family's struggle surviving a Minnesota winter.

VISTA Shocker from Chris Fastner

Just got an “All Staff” e-mail from Chris Fastner, our VISTA program manager who offices across from me and inadvertently eavesdrops on my fascinating phone conversations. (And I, his.) His e-mail, with the simple subject line, “Impact,” was a jaw-dropper.

Did you know that the Initiative Foundation is a national service site for Volunteers In Service To America? (Furthermore, did you know that it’s the capital “I” and “T” that make the catchy acronym possible?) We place 25 full-time volunteers in nonprofit organizations across central Minnesota. Their projects are all over the board, but their common goal is to increase the ability of their nonprofits to fight poverty.

And holy cow, have they ever.

According to Chris, whose job it is to track such things, our VISTAs helped recruit 4,200 other volunteers, who punched the clock to the tune of 28,000 hours. The big team helped more than 43,000 households and raised more than $250,000 in cash and in-kind gifts.

Wow.

I know that’s just a bunch of big numbers to some of you, so I’ll see if I can track Chris down for a good VISTA story or two. You’ll be impressed, I promise.

Yes, We Made it to the Blogosphere.

Welcome to KeyNotes, the Initiative Foundation’s new blog. From now until the end of time, our staff will post news clips, foundation updates, links, photos, videos and a veritable plethora of exciting stuff about the people and places we serve.

We’ll also invite you to help us get better at what we do by asking where we can make the greatest impact in your community. Heck, we might even change the course of history together. There’s just no telling.

I’m Matt Kilian, your friendly neighborhood communications guy since 1998. And don’t worry, you’ll hear from far more interesting program people, too.