Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO) was established in 1973, and in 2000 implemented a regional strategy to build philanthropic infrastructure throughout the Missouri Ozarks. Based in Springfield, CFO works with donors, affiliated community foundations, and agency partners to support resource development, community grantmaking, collaboration, and leadership initiatives.

  CFO currently has $130 million in charitable assets, 41

affiliated community foundations, and 315 agency partners. In FY09, CFO distributed $15.6 million in grants, including more than $6 million in targeted rural grantmaking. In addition, $3.8 million of the overall grants total went to education-related efforts.

The Importance of Rural Schools

Schools play a critical role in the well-being of small communities and towns that serve as rural hubs, providing a focal point of activity, a sense of civic pride, and a reason for families to stay in place. Schools are an integral thread in the community fabric; they provide a sense of purpose.

Rural education is a linchpin issue in rural economic development.

Our Ozarks Region

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ 50-county service area is firmly grounded in the hills of the Missouri Ozarks, a unique cultural and geographical region. Predominantly rural, a significant portion of the Missouri Ozarks is designated by the United States Department of Agriculture as an area of “persistent poverty.” In fact, the Foundation serves nine of Missouri’s ten poorest counties.

The Foundation’s 41 affiliates range from the Mississippi River in the east to the Kansas and Oklahoma borders in the west, to the Missouri River in the north and the Arkansas border in the south.

CFO Response: The Rural School Partnership

Recognizing the overarching importance of schools to rural development, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ board of directors has launched the Rural Schools Partnership, a comprehensive program to strengthen small school districts. The Rural Schools Partnership resulted from a year-long planning process involving CFO’s regional committee, public school leaders, affiliated foundation leadership, donors, and area business people.

  The Rural Schools Partnership embraces three consensus-based strategies for strengthening rural schools:

Develop alternative resources Promote collaborations and partnerships Support place-based education

strategies

Program features: Resource Development

Developing school foundations & charitable resources; CFO staff will assist schools, school foundations, and affiliated community foundations with: Technical support Administrative support Fund management Legal counsel Board development and donor education Planned giving programs Establishing and managing scholarship programs

Harry Cooper Company Campaign for the Ozarks Phase II: $250,000 in challenge grants for educational endowment building; 25 school districts and community foundations will have an opportunity to raise $20,000 for academic-oriented endowments and receive a $10,000 match.

Program Features: Collaborations and Partnerships

Providing professional development support for teachers and administrators through the Rural School and Community Trust’s Rural Schools Innovation Network This project is supported by a $20,000 grant from an anonymous

foundation and $30,000 from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks Philanthropy Initiative. A cohort of 20-25 schools will participate in a two-year pilot project. Applications for participation will be accepted on a first come, first served basis until the cohort is filled.

CFO will build meaningful relationships with local community foundations through fund development and community education

Making a Difference Where You Live, a quarterly radio and web-based program on important rural education issues. Sponsored by Ozarks Public Broadcasting, KSMU, www.ksmu.org ; available 91.1 Springfield, 90.5 Branson, 90.9 West Plains; 88.7 Mountain Grove, 98.9 Joplin, and 103.7 Neosho on the FM dial.

Program Features: Placed-Based Education

The Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking Program of Commerce Trust will provide $150,000 per year in grantmaking support for cooperative ventures that enhance teaching and learning through innovative place-based education programs.

The Springfield Regional Arts Council will facilitate

arts in the schools through the existing Greater Ozarks Arts Tour (GOAT) and Ozark Plateau Initiative programs.

Program Features: Placed-Based Education

The Conco Community Arts Program will provide $10,000 for student-led community arts efforts. 8-12 projects funded annually; applications due November 16, 2009.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks Philanthropy Initiative will provide start up grants to support the establishment of youth philanthropy/leadership programs in rural communities.

The Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Stewardship Ozarks Initiative will provide $10,000 annually to support conservation education grants for student-led conservation activities and projects.

Our hope is that the Rural Schools Partnership and its various programs will increase philanthropic support for rural education, encourage purposeful collaboration, and strengthen the bonds between school and community.

www.ruralschoolspartnership.org