WWW.CFSJC.ORG • (574) 232-0041 • 205 W. JEFFERSON BLVD., SUITE 610 • SOUTH BEND, IN 46601

NOVEMBER 2013 CONNECTING PEOPLE WHO CARE WITH CAUSES THAT MATTER

The Foundation’s 2013 Highlights: Generosity, Growth, and Giving BackRose Meissner, president of the Community Foundation, reflects on the organization’s many successes in 2013.

Looking back over the past year, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has much to celebrate. Those reasons include a big jump in contributions, double-digit investment returns, increased grant support to local charities, and active involvement in a growing number of very promising initiatives.

Abundant Generosity During the past year, our assets grew to over $142 million, an increase of $13 million from the previous year—even after paying out some $5 million in grants to local charities.

In Remembrance About half of the nearly $6 million in

gifts we received were in the form of bequests from wonderful local citizens who included the Community Foundation in their wills. People such as Charles Hillman, Marjorie Wilson, Ralph Hass, Lucy Minnix, and Anne Abernethy loved this community, were actively involved with favorite charities and causes, and chose to leave a gift to the Community Foundation to continue their support forever. What a beautiful way to keep their spirits alive in our community!

Investment Returns The Community Foundation’s

Among the year’s highlights: Many of the Community Foundation’s donors, partner organizations, Board members, and other friends came together to recognize the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association, winner of the Community Foundation’s 2014 Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence.

HIGHLIGHTS

It’s been a long five years, but we’ve made it to the light at the end of the tunnel: The Community Foundation has fully recovered from market downturn of 2008, with total assets and investments now exceeding $142 million. And that makes a big impact on our community.

Since we began making grants, the Community Foundation has returned more than $5 million a year to the community, supporting a wide variety of causes and charities that make our county a better place. Cumulatively, we’ve awarded more than $8.4 million in scholarships to help bright, deserving young people realize their dreams. One of the largest in Indiana, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County ranks among the top 100 community foundations nationally.

We’re making St. Joseph County a better place to live and grow for all its residents, now and forever. Learn more about us—including how you can get involved—at www.cfsjc.org.

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South Bend’s Potawatomi Park, where the Community Foundation has invested more than $1.3 million since 2007.

About half of the nearly $6 million in gifts we received were in the form of bequests from wonderful citizens who included the Community Foundation in their wills.

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY • PAGE 2

Years ago, Don Crawford thought he’d be a dairy farmer. Don and his wife Nancy went so far as to purchase a piece of land in New York State, picturing it as a future home for Holsteins.

But instead his path led to banking. Don worked for Mishawaka Financial for 35 years, retiring as vice president and treasurer of the company. His wife spent 25 years with Ameritech as a service representative. Both are South Bend natives who moved to Mishawaka in the mid-1950s when Don finished his service in the Navy. They’re a couple known for service to the community: Don has been a member of the Mishawaka Lions Club with perfect attendance for 50 years, and he’s served as a Mishawaka City councilman and on the boards of the Mishawaka Public Library and Bethel College. He and Nancy have been active members of the Coalbush United Methodist Church

for more than half a century. For many years, Nancy was a primary Sunday school teacher and a volunteer reading helper at Beiger School.

Don and Nancy share a love of Japanese culture. They’ve hosted five Japanese exchange students over the years, as well as students from other countries, and have been to Japan more than a dozen times with their two sons and four grandchildren. Through their friendship with Helen Amos, the elementary teacher responsible for Mishawaka’s sister-city relationship with Shiojiri City, they’ve become honorary citizens of Shiojiri.

Because of this relationship, the Crawfords talked to Mayor Beutter about developing an authentic Japanese “strolling garden” in the area opposite the Merrifield swimming pool. With support from the Mayor, the City, the Lions Club, and many other generous corporate and individual donors, the 1.3-acre Shiojiri Niwa was created.

For more than 25 years, Don has taken near-daily walks through the Shiojiri Niwa, doing his part to help make sure the park is well maintained. His commitment to the Shiojiri Niwa is bigger than simply picking up pieces of trash: In the late 1990s, the Crawfords established the Nancy and Donald Crawford Fund for Shiojiri Garden with the Community Foundation. This endowed fund—which has grown substantially since it was established—ensures that this peaceful garden will be cared for long into the future.

Focusing on Our Donors: Don and Nancy Crawford

The Crawfords are committed to the environment—particularly Mishawaka’s beautiful parks—and through their philanthropy, they’ve ensured that their caring stewardship will continue.

The Crawfords didn’t stop there. Recently, they created the Fund for Beutter Park with the Foundation, which provides that same kind of permanent support for the riverside park named in honor of Robert C. Beutter, a friend of the Crawfords who served as Mishawaka’s mayor for 20 years. Although the Fund for Beutter Park is starting small, the Crawfords hope that it will attract additional donations from others who care about the future of Mishawaka’s green spaces and wish to honor Bob.

The environment is very important to the Crawfords, but they care deeply about other issues, too. For many years, Don has been a tireless champion of improving fine arts education in Mishawaka schools. Don and Nancy find the Community Foundation to be the perfect vehicle to ensure that all the causes to which they’ve dedicated so much time, talent, and treasure receive support forever. They’ve used a variety of tactics to cement their plans, including gifts of cash and stock, matching gift opportunities, and charitable gift annuities.

The Crawfords still own that land in New York. The Holsteins never materialized, but in recent years, Don and Nancy have added a pond and a rustic cabin. It’s become a place that the their children and grandchildren love, too, and will cherish long into the future—like the enduring family legacy that the Crawfords have built through the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County.

Like the Crawfords, you can establish a fund that will support the causes that matter most to you—forever. To learn more, visit www.cfsjc.org or call Rose Meissner at (574) 232-0041.

Don and Nancy find the Community Foundation to be the perfect vehicle to ensure that all the causes to which they’ve dedicated so much time, talent, and treasure receive support forever.

cash you were going to give to charity to rebuy the stock, stepping up your cost basis to avoid future capital gains taxes.

2. Have you considered starting a fund with the Community Foundation? It’s a great way to make a permanent difference for your favorite charities or causes. Starting a fund requires a commitment of only $10,000, which can be paid over five years.

3. If you’re over 65, you may want to consider a charitable gift annuity with the Community Foundation. You receive a lifetime income and any assets remaining at your death go into the charitable fund of your choice. You’ll find more information about charitable gift annuities on the back page of this newsletter, as well as on our website.

Please don’t hesitate to call me with your comments or questions. Wishing you health and happiness this holiday season and in the year ahead,

Rose Meissner President

WWW.CFSJC.ORG • (574) 232-0041 • 205 W. JEFFERSON BLVD., SUITE 610 • SOUTH BEND, IN 46601

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investment portfolio earned 11.2% for the year. Our ten-year return of 7.9% ranks in the top 15% of our community foundation peers. We’re very serious about our responsibility to invest well the gifts we receive so that these gifts generate growing support for charity each year and retain their real value over time.

Program Highlights The Community Foundation continues to lead a growing number of initiatives that are making a big difference for St. Joseph County. At the heart of all of our initiatives is a belief that if we provide people opportunities to learn about the best practices in their field and we bring them together as colleagues to learn from each other, outcomes will improve.

We’ve applied this concept to fields as different as early childhood education and nursing home care. More recently, we are helping the City of South Bend to adopt the Group Violence Reduction Strategy developed by David Kennedy of John Jay College in New York. This approach to crime prevention has dramatically reduced gun violence in communities all over the country. The Community Foundation, along with our African American Community Fund and other local partners, is eager to help ensure that we get the same excellent results here.

We continue to delight in working with arts organizations to advance local arts and culture. A treasured memory of this last year was the Community Foundation’s Performing Arts Series

An audience of 3,3000 people came out for the South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s performance for the 2013 Community Foundation Performing Arts Series at Potawatomi Park, which included a “community play-along” with more than 50 local musicians

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at the Chris Wilson Pavilion in South Bend’s Potawatomi Park. The series culminated with a free concert by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. For the final piece, nearly 50 community musicians joined with the Symphony to perform a specially commissioned arrangement of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” More than 3,300 local citizens attended the series—a record number for the series. We’re already anticipating more vibrant summer evenings in the park next year.

Year-End Thoughts Many of us do the bulk of our charitable giving in December. I can’t resist offering a few tips:

1. If you own appreciated stock, you may want to consider gifting stock instead of cash. You can always use the

Have you considered starting a fund with the Community Foundation? It’s a great way to make a permanent difference for your favorite charities or causes.

More recently, we’re helping the City of South Bend to adopt the Group Violence Reduction Strategy developed by David Kennedy of John Jay College in New York.

P.O. BOX 837SOUTH BEND, IN 46624

Non Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

South Bend, IN

Permit No. 360

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

DATES/DEADLINES

• Jan. 8, 2014: Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship application deadline

• Mid-January: Indiana Arts Commission free grant information sessions; call for exact dates and times

• Mar. 1: Special Project grant application deadline

• Mar. 1: Indiana Arts Commission grant application deadline

• Mar. 1: Charles Martin and Laidig Community Service Scholarship application deadlines

Learn more at www.cfsjc.org or call (574) 232-0041.

Gift Annuities: Income and LegacyWe all understand the value of annuities. As part of a retirement strategy, individuals or couples often choose to purchase annuities—generally from insurance companies—in order to have a guaranteed income for the rest of their lives.

A charitable gift annuity is an annuity you acquire from a nonprofit charity, such as the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County. As with a traditional annuity, you exchange a lump sum (a minimum of $10,000), which can be cash or appreciated stock, for a fixed, guaranteed income for life (and for your spouse’s life, if you wish). Rates of return typically range from 4% to 8.8%, depending on your age.

Here’s the important difference. With a traditional annuity purchased from

an insurance company, any assets that remain in the annuity when you die transfer to the insurance company. But with a charitable gift annuity, any remaining assets will be permanently invested in the Community Foundation to support your favorite charity or cause forever.

Rates for charitable gift annuities are somewhat lower than rates for commercial annuities. However, some of the difference in rates is made up by tax benefits, which include partially tax-free income, a charitable income tax deduction, and reduced capital gains (if appreciated stock is used).

Learn whether a gift annuity might make sense for you: Visit www.cfsjc.org or call Rose Meissner at (574) 232-0041.