An Aberdeen high school student becomes a first-generation college graduate thanks to a scholarship. A single parent finally gets a roof over their head. A person facing hunger finds their belly full. A child plays in the grass at a brand-new park. At the heart of all these good things is the Grays Harbor Community Foundation.
Since 1994, when it started with just a $1,000 donation, the foundation has worked with nonprofits in Grays Harbor to bring about changes that strengthen and grow our communities. Jessica Hoover, Grays Harbor Community Foundation senior program officer, answers our questions about how they have become the backbone of our community.
GHT: What’s special about the Grays Harbor Community Foundation?
Hoover: The Foundation is special because it is the connecting place for people who care about our community to give back to organizations they are passionate about, as well as invest in our local students.
The Foundation is the great bridge to helping organizations and people succeed, thanks to the support of our generous donors. We are a thriving organization that has over $110 million in assets and will invest over $4 million into Grays Harbor and our residents this year. What an amazing accomplishment for a small rural community in Washington State to be one of the largest community foundations in the state, thanks to our donors and those who see our community for what it is: A truly special place to live, work and raise a family.
GHT: How does the Grays Harbor Community Foundation work?
Hoover: We are the great connector. Lots of people have things they are passionate about, but they may not have their finger on the pulse of what the current needs are within their passion points and luckily, we do. We also make logistics of giving easy for donors to both donate during their lifetime as well as through legacy giving.
We award grants to local nonprofits and school districts, and provide scholarship opportunities to students by working with our donors through donor development and stewardship. We have close to 200 funds set up for scholarships, endowments, donor advised funds, field of interest, etc. and our return on investment for fundholders in recent years has been over 10%.
We also have a 4% spending policy implemented by our board to ensure we are here in perpetuity for generations of Harborites to benefit from, not just the here and now. We need to be purposeful and accountable with how we spend our funds and always keep our donors intentions at the forefront.
GHT: What are the priorities the Grays Harbor Community Foundation focuses on?
Hoover: We have four main giving priorities: Arts and Culture; History and Education; Health and Wellness; and Basic Needs. Everything we fund falls within these priorities and helps us shape our decision-making. Our communities are pretty diverse, ranging from the coast to the rainforest and everything in between. We do a lot of funding for parks and museums, and then also after-school programs and fieldtrips. We also provide funding for basic needs such as food and shelter and provide support to our local hospitals and hospice organizations.
Wherever there is a need within our giving priorities, we try and partner with local organizations to help. We have eight different granting opportunities throughout the year to respond to large- and small-scale needs. An average grant is around $25,000.
GHT: How does the Grays Harbor Community Foundation balance urgent community needs like housing and food with things like education and leadership development?
Hoover: In the last decade or so, we have really expanded our granting structure to not just be program and project specific, but to also address internal capacity building needs for our local nonprofits. We understand that staff education and retention is a critical piece of a thriving nonprofit and are willing to support operational needs as they arise. That could be something as simple as new computers and printers for an office.
We see our greatest way to address economic needs in Grays Harbor is through education. We have great partnerships with our local school districts to support students through pre-kindergarten through high school, and our scholarship program awards over $1 million a year to deserving local students to go anywhere throughout the country for their education. Our scholarships offer four years of support and for students interested in receiving their master’s degree, we now offer a loan program that provides up to $10,000 a year for a total of two years that has a 1% interest rate and does not need to paid back until six months after graduation.
We also created a vocational scholarship program specifically for students entering the trades this year, so similar to our granting philosophy, we offer several opportunities throughout the year to meet students where they are at.
GHT: How does the Grays Harbor Community Foundation measure its success and effectiveness?
Hoover: We request all organizations that receive funding report their progress back to us after six months to tell us where their project is at. We ask for success stories and photos and also ask for any upcoming projects they have on the horizon they may need funding for so we can better anticipate.
We also think the best way to spread the word about our work is to tell our story through our partnerships. When our citizens see that we support a local park or museum, maybe it will inspire them to apply for funding for the organizations they are a part of.
Support the Grays Harbor Community Foundation
The Grays Harbor Community Foundation has been doing good in our community for over 30 years. Are you ready to get involved? You can contact them through the Grays Harbor Community Foundation website. They are always looking for volunteers – their board is volunteer-run – and donations of any size are gratefully accepted.
