25th Anniversary Legacy Society Initiative Posted on June 3, 2021 by Eau Claire Community Foundation In honor of our 25th anniversary, ECCF set a goal of recruiting 25 new Legacy Society members. This special group ensures that ECCF will stay strong for future generations by designating gifts to ECCF in their wills or estate plans. So far, 20 new members have joined! As a thank you for their generosity, new Legacy Society members can recommend $1000 in grants. Please consider joining the Legacy Society—your generosity will make a difference now and for years to come! LEGACY PACKET Read our Legacy Packet to learn how to support the nonprofits you love by joining the Legacy Society. Click here for a free downloadable PDF of the Legacy Packet. Nonprofit Fundraising Initiative Results For 25 years, ECCF grants have supported Eau Claire’s nonprofits. As ECCF enters its next quarter century, it involved the community in philanthropy by launching a new crowdfunding platform called the Grant Catalog. Not only were local nonprofits able to raise funds through direct public donations, but their participation in the Grant Catalog made them eligible for bonus grants that, by the end of the year, added up to $100,000! The Grant Catalog went live four times over the year, once for each of our four giving categories (Create Culture, Form Futures, Give Green, and Offer Opportunities.) See the Grant Catalog Timeline at the bottom of the page for more information. TOTAL IMPACT: MORE THAN $304,000 FOR LOCAL NONPROFITS!!! The fourth and final Grant Catalog supported the Offer Opportunities giving category, which helps nonprofits address basic needs like food, shelter, medical care, veterans’ services, and disability assistance. Together, 14 local nonprofits raised almost $13,000. The top three fundraisers were: Hope Gospel Mission;: $10,000 bonus grant Chippewa Valley Veterans Tribute Foundation: $7000 bonus grant Good Shepherd Lutheran Foundation: $5000 bonus grant The following organizations received $1,000 bonus grants: Catholic Charities Sojourner House The Community Table The Wellness Shack Other participating nonprofits were: Chippewa Valley Habitat for Humanity, Chippewa Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley, St. Francis Food Pantry, The Salvation Army, Special Olympics Wisconsin, Trinity Equestrian Center, and Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council Incorporated. Our third Grant Catalog, Give Green, raised more than $80,000 in public donations for 14 local nonprofits! The top three fundraisers were: Boys and Girls of the Club Greater Chippewa Valley: $10,000 bonus grant Flying Eagles Ski Club: $7,000 bonus grant Eastside Hill Neighborhood Association: $5,000 bonus grant The following organizations received $1,000 bonus grants: Family Resource Center Wildlife Rehabilitation and Release YMCA of the Chippewa Valley Other participating nonprofits were: Bob’s House for Dogs; Chippewa Valley Cat Club; Eau Claire County Humane Association; Friends of Beaver Creek Reserve; Hope Gospel Mission; Lower Chippewa Invasives Partnership; OutdoorMore; and Trinity Equestrian Center. Our second Grant Catalog, Form Futures, had 14 participants and raised more than $51,000! The top fundraisers were: GATEWAYS Fund of the Eau Claire Public Schools Foundation: $10,000 bonus grant Boys and Girls Clubs of the Greater Chippewa Valley: $7,000 bonus grant Family Resource Center: $5,000 bonus grant The following organizations received $1,000 bonus grants: Chippewa Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library Literacy Chippewa Valley Additional Form Futures fundraisers included: Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council Incorporated, United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley, L.E. Phillips Career Development Center, Junior Achievement of Wisconsin North and West Central Region, and Children’s Charities. Create Culture was the first Grant Catalog; seventeen nonprofit applicants together raised almost $60,000!!! The top fundraisers were: Eau Claire Children’s Theatre: $10,000 bonus grant L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library: $7,000 bonus grant Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra: $5,000 bonus grant The following organizations received $1,000 bonus grants: Chippewa Valley Railroad Foundation Eau Claire Municipal Band Stand in the Light Memory Choir Additional Create Culture fundraisers included: Friends of Beaver Creek Reserve, Eau Claire Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association, Inc., Wisconsin Logging Museum, The Master Singers, Sculpture Tour, Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild, Chippewa Valley Symphony, Chippewa Valley Post, Chippewa Valley Music Teachers Association, and Chippewa Valley Museum. ECCF History Eau Claire is a wonderful community—due in large part to the hard work of many diverse nonprofits. For years, the Hobbs Foundation provided a reliable source of financial support for these organizations. Then, in 1995, it distributed its final grant, leaving the nonprofits scrambling to fill the funding void. Leaders in the Eau Claire community saw the need for an organization that would work through other nonprofits without competing with them for funding. Catalyzed by an offer from a local couple—who offered a generous gift if a community foundation were created to serve the Eau Claire area—they formed a Board of Trustees. The Board met in January 1997 and established the ambitious goal of recruiting 25 donors to join the foundation’s Society of Founders. They were encouraged to make unrestricted commitments of $10,000 or more without decreasing their previous philanthropic commitments. It seemed like a lot to ask, but the people of Eau Claire didn’t just meet the goal—they exceeded it. Over $1 million was contributed by 64 generous donors to make the Eau Claire Community Foundation a reality. Thanks to the vision and generosity of the Society of Founders, local nonprofits can get the financial support they need to keep our community strong. ECCF Board of Trustees and Legacy Society Members ECCF Board of Trustees: Legacy Society Members: