Holiday Grant Catalog is open for requests

 November 5, 2020

Winter:  crabbing is about to begin, photo from our first website, 2015

Pacific Community Foundation has opened the holiday grant catalog to requests from local nonprofit organizations. To start this process, go to  https://spccf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/request  and put in your organization's name. 

Several fields will open up, including the amount you are asking for, a short and long word description and a box for your logo or image. There is also a box for your organization's web address. 

Contact info@spccf.org to get a copy of the handout that details the information needed and boxes to fill out. Or get started online, then contact us and we will help complete your request. 

Our host program does not allow multiple visits to one request, it's just a small annoyance. Options are to ask us for edits, or start a new request, while we delete the other. 

The site will be open for your requests until November 12, then close while we review all applications and decided which ones to post. The list will be open for donations November 25 to December 31, 2020. 

You will be able to see how well your request is doing in raising money during this period simply by looking at the main list, at https://spccf.org/  Click on the Donate button, which takes you to https://spccf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/grant 

The promotion process is simple:  Every organization that participates spreads the word to its members, and asks them to promote the catalog to their contacts. Reaching out through many different organizations helps your proposal reach new potential donors. 

Our grant catalogs raise thousands of dollars for local nonprofits. 

Monthly Giving - We’re In This Together

Stephanie Fritts,  October 24, 2020

Sunset over Leadbetter Point from Highway 101, photo by Jim Sayce

Our connections to Pacific County run deep--we love the ocean and beach, the forests, the community, and more than that, our people.  You see them everyday - your friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and family.  We truly have something special here.  It’s an attitude,  a way of life, the very quality of our lives.  We’re supportive, generous, invested, and grateful. 

This sense of investment and gratitude are why the Pacific Community Foundation exists.  PCF believes in investing where we are, and in what we value—our community.  To that point, the mission of the foundation is to demonstrate leadership in philanthropy to foster a dynamic community.  We know that Pacific County and its surrounding communities have a uniqueness that we can champion through investment.  

In that vein, we encourage you to consider making a recurring monthly donation to the Pacific Community Foundation, to any of our funds.  Monthly donors recognize that we’re in this together, coupling gratitude with a desire to see our community continue to stay as vibrant as it is today.  

For donors, Pacific Community Foundation makes donations simple, no matter the format. Our website includes a secure online donation process, offering one-time, or recurring monthly or annual donations, which makes regular giving easy.  Checks are also accepted by mail.  

The Foundation also offers options for other types of donations, including stocks, mutual funds, property and vehicles. In all cases, you tell us where you want your donation to go, and we make sure it goes to that fund to support your area of interest in the community. In return, you get the benefit of the donated value for tax or estate planning purposes, and the knowledge that you are continuing to help your community thrive.  After all, we’re in this together!

Community Matters--Supporting Our Pets During This Pandemic

Needs don’t go away just because we are staying at home for a few weeks. 

On Sunday, South Pacific County Humane Society opened Peninsula Pets Fund with Pacific Community Foundation. This fund was three years, at least, in the planning. Maybe more than five years. The Peninsula Pets Fund opened this week as it became clear the need was critical.  URL:   https://spccf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=1159

PCF had talked to humane society officers several times over the years about a dedicated fund. Helped them raise money to install a commercial washer and dryer last year—a big step for them, aided by retired architect and foundation board member Phil Allen.

The current situation:

But now, the need is critical. Donations to operate the no-kill shelter were dropping off as the pandemic intensified, shelter at home orders, and quarantines began. 

They need to keep the shelter open and operational, staff paid, animals fed and cared for. Provide veterinary care for animals in need. None of these needs stopped when human sheltering started. 

We use a great foundation accounting program called Community Suite, which takes new funds live within minutes of composing, which Kathleen Sayce did on Sunday, April 12th. 

By Monday, the humane society was spreading this link to the fund’s own URL:   https://spccf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=1159

They continue to promote their fund via the local paper, facebook and direct emails. This outreach matters—in the first week, more than 35 people made donations totaling $2550 to  the Peninsula Pets Fund.  

Wonderful!

The next steps:  Encourage people to make 
recurring monthly donations. 

Keep awareness up with ads, facebook and instagram posts. 

Personal emails. 

Personal thank you notes. 

Stories about how these donations helped animals find new homes, and especially helped people feed their own pets when they were laid off from their jobs. 

 

SPCHS is not alone:

Many important community services are in peril due to hugely increased needs. Pacific County is tiny, population less than 22,000 full time residents. More than 1,000 workers are laid off—a number we hoped would never be attained. 

The stay-at-home period will not last forever, long as it may seem to all of us right now. 

We will eventually have effective vaccines and enough shared immunity to have an open society once more. [I had lunch at Bridgewater Bistro in mid March, and remember wondering as I ate a delicious lunch (wild salmon BLT sandwich, a personal favorite), when I would be able to have this lunch again. I still do not know. No one knows.]

Planning ahead:

Now is the time to be thinking and planning.   Think about what a new improved humane society looks like, and how you can help. Think about recurring donations and endowments.

To those thirty plus people who made donations this week to this new fund, thank you!