This month, our nonprofit spotlight story is YOU! For the past 2 years, the Steuben County Community Foundation has coordinated a Nonprofit Wish List to encourage philanthropic support of local charities on Giving Tuesday. Our goal is to gather and publicize a list of some general needs from nonprofits with a physical presence in Steuben County, which could be passed along to donors, churches, businesses, or services clubs who are looking to make a difference. 

This year, Giving Tuesday falls on December 1, 2020. SCCF is excited to begin collecting your submissions for the 2020 Steuben County Nonprofit Wish List. In addition to the written wish list, we encourage participating organizations to send us a 30 second video clip representing their organization's work, which we will compile into a single Steuben County Giving Tuesday video! The video can be of anyone in your organization that can highlight your mission, explain who you are, and what your wish list is. You can even record this video on your phone with your camera horizontally. This will help the community put a face to your organization's wish list. (Last year's video received more than 250 views on Facebook and YouTube.) 

Click the button below to download the 2020 Steuben County Nonprofit Wish List form. Submissions must be emailed before November 6. 

In direct partnership with the Steuben County United Way, SCCF has been providing grant support for local nonprofits to help their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of October 19, 2020, the disaster response fund has awarded a total of $205,000 to 25 nonprofits. These grants have primarily supported 501(c)(3) nonprofits in Steuben County that provide essential services and who have been greatly impacted by COVID-19. These nonprofits have offered creative solutions to fundraising gaps and program ideas to address the challenges faced by community members. Applications are reviewed by a joint committee with board members from SCCF and Steuben County United Way. Steuben County nonprofits may apply at steubenfoundation.org/COVID19. Regional nonprofits who serve Steuben County will be invited to apply for funding in phase 2, which opens January 1.  The Steuben County Disaster Response Fund benefited from generous individuals who donated early on in the pandemic. The fund also received a grant made possible through a partnership between Lilly Endowment Inc. and Indiana United Ways, the state professional association of which Steuben County United Way is a member.

The grantee pictured above is Lake James Christian Camp & Retreat Center, which received funds to purchase a trailer so they could travel around the county offering mini-camps when COVID-19 left them without a summer camp session.

In the first few months of the pandemic, SCCF reached out to local nonprofit leaders to ask about their challenges. Over and over again, we heard from nonprofit directors who were struggling to make tough decisions about finances, leading their staff, working with their boards, and finding creative ways to fundraise. This workshop idea came about as a result of those discussions. 

Cheryl Taylor, the recently retired President/CEO at Foellinger Foundation, will be sharing some experiences about serving as a leader for your organization in uncertain times. In addition to stories about her experiences managing the stress of leadership, this workshop will include time for discussion and sharing about issues that are currently challenging for Steuben County leaders.  

This workshop is open to nonprofit directors, board members, volunteers, or community members. There is limited space available for in person attendance, which will be available at the SCCF office at 1701 N Wayne St. in Angola. Please contact us if you plan to attend in person.  

Date & Time: November 12, 1:00-2:30pm 

This summer, Foellinger Foundation offered a series of 5 video sessions for board members, executive directors, and nonprofit leaders. Each video is less than six minutes long so instead of committing a large chunk of time, these could be viewed first thing in the morning when you’re searching for a new perspective or when you need a coffee break.

The videos cover the following topics:

This series is made possible by the Barbara Burt Innovative Leader Fund, part of Foellinger Foundation’s Helene Foellinger Leadership Development Initiative.

SCCF was asked to gather information from local nonprofits about rescheduled fundraising events in order to avoid overlapping dates. Here are the responses we received: