Giving Compass' Take:
- Emily Russell reports on how the Adirondack Community Foundation is revitalizing and sustaining rural communities in the region.
- How can donors and funders support foundations investing in their local communities' thriving? How can community foundations help underinvested rural regions?
- Ask a custom question to find other nonprofits focused on rural philanthropy.
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
For many people, summer is a time to unwind and take a vacation. For Cali Brooks, it’s one of her busiest times of year.
"When I go to a cocktail party in the middle of summer, people are always like, ‘Oh my god, here she comes,’ but I go right up to people," explained Brooks, who isn't shy about what she does.
As the executive director of the Adirondack Community Foundation, Brooks helps raise millions of dollars each year for the region. Over the last 25 years, she's grown the philanthropic organization from a small team overseeing a few million dollars to a much larger, more impactful one.
"We are about $135 million in assets; we distribute about $12 million in grants and scholarships," said Brooks. "We convene, we collaborate, we partner. We work with everybody who cares about this place, and we work across the region.”
The foundation raises money from individual donors as well as regional and national organizations. Donors decide where about 80% of the funding goes, and the rest is under the Foundation's purview, which often focuses its funding on a hyper-local scale.
The Adirondack Community Foundation has given money to a youth hockey league in Chazy, a rescue squad in Long Lake, and a food co-op in Ticonderoga, among many other recent recipients.
Brooks believes one of the Foundation's strengths is how well its staff knows the Adirondacks.
"We know where the gaps are, we know where the opportunities are, we see where philanthropy is already working and working really well and where philanthropy isn’t quite working," said Brooks.
Environmental non-profits already raise millions of dollars to help protect the Adirondack Park, so the Foundation focuses more on funding for childcare, workforce housing, and schools.
Chris Savage is the principal of Tupper Lake’s middle and high school. For the last three years, the school has received $7,000-10,000 from the Foundation to purchase school supplies for every student.
Read the full article about philanthropy in the Adirondacks by Emily Russell at North Country Public Radio.