Wednesday, January 1, 2020
All told, 2019 was a banner year for our Community Foundation. Donors entrusted us with $3.5 million in contributions and we awarded more than $3.3 million in grants and scholarships. more
Thursday, December 5, 2019
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation’s Board of Directors recently approved $286,169 in grant awards as part of the fall grant cycle. In total, so far this year the Community Foundation has awarded more than $3.1 million in grants and scholarships. more
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Students throughout the five-county region are attending college this fall with scholarship funding from the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation. This year, the Community Foundation awarded more than $272,000 in awards to 194 recipients. more
Thursday, September 19, 2019
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation is currently accepting grant applications for its Fall Grant Cycle. more
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Movement Lab began at Central Grade School during the 2015/2016 school year and was offered only to kindergarten students. During the 2017/2018 school year, the program was expanded to first grade students at Central. Now, a $15,000 grant from the Community Foundation is ensuring Movement Lab is available for another year. This is the second year the Community Foundation offered a grant to support Movement Lab. more
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
The Community Foundation Board of Directors recently elected two new Directors and a new Secretary to its Board. The Board Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Treasurer were all re-elected for their officer positions. more
Monday, July 1, 2019
Join us in welcoming the newest addition to our team -- Brittany Morton -- in the role of Program and Administrative Associate. more
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Join the Community Foundation on Friday, July 26 at 10am to hear personally from acclaimed authors of 'Our Towns,' James and Deborah Fallows, as they share what they learned from visiting communities across the country. Be inspired to create solutions as we celebrate success in our own towns and strive to build healthy, resilient, thriving communities. more
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
“We envision healthy, resilient, thriving communities for all,” said David Mengebier, Community Foundation president and CEO. “Environmental issues – including our valuable water resources – are a critical component to meeting that vision.” more
Monday, April 15, 2019
Continuing a long-standing community tradition, this year’s Citizen and Business of the Year have been named. The Traverse City Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation have partnered to host the annual event. The award winners will be honored at the 2019 Kalkaska Annual Luncheon on Wednesday, April 25. more
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Northwestern Michigan College students are planning an inaugural “Concert for Community Awareness” to raise awareness on issues, including mental health, suicide prevention, substance abuse, and homelessness. more
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
“Last year, we launched Accelerate, a movement for well-being, as part of our strategic commitment to building a culture of health and well-being,” said David Mengebier, Community Foundation president and CEO. “Our board chose Movement Lab as the recipient of its discretionary strategic grant dollars because it promotes physical activity and boosts literacy – both of which are critical to future well-being of kids.” more
Friday, February 15, 2019
Two students have been selected as the winners of the Perry Hannah Essay Contest that the Community Foundation YAC students have helped promote, facilitate, and judge. more
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Nominations are now being accepted for the Kalkaska Business and Citizen of the Year Awards, a 49-year tradition in the community to honor a local business and resident for their civic involvement. The award winners will be honored at the 2019 Kalkaska Annual Luncheon on Wednesday, April 25. The Traverse City Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation have partnered to host the annual event. more
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Last year the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, in partnership with the Charlevoix County and Petoskey-Harbor Springs Community Foundations, received a $60,000 grant award from the C.S. Mott Foundation to support combined clean energy efforts in the region.
This work focuses on building new and stronger relationships and partnerships, supporting greater community understanding and increased engagement with clean energy efforts, and supporting the three municipalities (Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Traverse City) in moving renewable energy and energy efficiency work forward within their communities and city facilities to create regional resiliency. more
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
“Last year we received almost 800 unique scholarship applications – an increase of nearly 200 over the previous year – and we decided that we needed a better system to optimize and simplify the process,” said Gina Thornbury, Community Foundation program officer. “Our new software allows students to fill out a preliminary application that lists every scholarship they are eligible for, tells them what to submit, and sends them deadline reminders.” more
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
The Community Foundation and TCNewTech are two of a group of local organizations working to build an innovative regional health ecosystem and invest in a local health technology cluster. The group also includes 20Fathoms, Munson Healthcare, and Boomerang Catapult. more
Monday, January 7, 2019
Two recently established Community Foundation Endowments are positioned to honor the legacy of local leaders – Jim and Ida Tompkins – and ensure annual benefit for area youth, for generations to come. more
Friday, January 4, 2019
The Community Foundation Board of Directors recently elected five new Directors for the 2019-2020 board year, including a youth representative: Marina Ascione, Terry Beamsley, Rachael Birgy, Cash Cook, and Royce Ragland. more
Thursday, December 20, 2018
As Marsha Smith began to approach her retirement date from Rotary Charities, where she’s served as Executive Director for more than 20 years, she asked that people consider marking her retirement not with gifts for her, but rather for the community. The Community Foundation established the Marsha J. Smith Community Leadership Fund to create just that opportunity. more
Monday, December 17, 2018
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation’s grants this year total more than $2.4 million, including $243,943 in grant awards approved this month by the Board of Directors as part of the 2018 fall grant cycle. more
Thursday, December 6, 2018
The Community Foundation is our local giving partner. By creating a fund or donating to an existing fund, such as the Endowment for Kalkaska Area, we can ensure that community needs are met now and forever. This giving season let’s give it forward, together. more
Friday, November 9, 2018
Kalkaska County Board Directors for the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation awarded $1,800 to the Father Fred Foundation for their Blessings in a Backpack program that makes sure that low-income students have nutritious food over the weekend. more
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
The Community Foundation is currently accepting grant applications for its Fall Grant Cycle and anticipates awarding nearly $280,000 in fall grants this year and has more than a dozen endowments from which it will award grants in the coming months, including from its Youth Endowment. more
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
The Community Foundation has granted more than $1 million from the Campbell Endowment. And, through the endowment model, a $1 million endowment remains. This means that the Campbell Endowment, which is just one of many endowments at the Community Foundation, will continue to financially support our community in perpetuity. more
Friday, August 10, 2018
Several key ideas that stand out to me about the Community Foundation model: First, it helps people make long-term investments in causes that matter to them. Second, it looks for opportunities to make our communities more vibrant and healthy. Lastly, it grants funds every year to organizations that are making life better in the region. more
Thursday, August 9, 2018
What I love about the Community Foundation is not only that immediate impact, but also how we are focused on the stewardship of endowments in perpetuity. Donors look to the Community Foundation to steward giving in a responsible manner so that doing good works can go on forever. more
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
The Community Foundation and the Women’s Auxiliary of the Crystal Downs Country Club launched a new partnership this year, together awarding $44,500 in scholarships to area students. more
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
This year, the Community Foundation awarded nine scholarships from the Tompkins scholarship endowment to six graduating high school seniors and three current college students who all previously graduated from Traverse City Area Public Schools. In total, the Tompkins Scholarship Endowment granted $38,500 this year to TCAPS students pursuing higher education. more
Monday, July 9, 2018
The Community Foundation Board of Directors recently elected new officers and directors for the 2018-2019 board year, which began July 1. more
Thursday, June 14, 2018
The Community Foundation recently awarded $15,000 to the Advocates for Benzie County to support the purchase of a multi-functional trailer. more
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Students from throughout our five-county region will be attending college in the fall with scholarship funding from the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, which has already awarded $222,683 in scholarships in 2018. more
Friday, June 8, 2018
For more than 25 years, your Community Foundation has been working in our region to provide dynamic and excellent services for donors, meaningful grants to support local nonprofits and collaborative leadership around community initiatives. We have the responsibility and privilege of partnering with donors and nonprofits in our region to enrich our communities then, now and forever. more
Friday, May 4, 2018
Join us in welcoming two new members to our team! more
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation recently awarded more than $384,000 in grants to local organizations throughout the five-county region and expects to award over $2 million in grants over the course of 2018. more
Friday, December 29, 2017
As our outgoing Executive Director and CEO wraps up his final day on the Community Foundation team, he offers parting thoughts. more
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Twenty-five years ago, a group of local leaders hatched a plan that resulted in the creation of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation. This beginning relied on committed leaders and an inspiring vision for what a community foundation could mean for our region. more
Monday, December 11, 2017
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation’s grants this year so far total more than $2.3 million, including more than $180,000 in grant awards approved this month by the Board of Directors as part of the 2017 responsive grant cycle. more
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
As students from across the region are preparing to continue their education at colleges and universities, many will benefit from the support of the Community Foundation, which awarded nearly $200,000 in scholarships this year. more
Thursday, July 13, 2017
David G. Mengebier has been named as our next Executive Director/CEO. Mengebier will come to the Community Foundation after more than 25 years with Consumers Energy, where he is currently senior vice president and senior policy adviser. more
Thursday, June 8, 2017
The Community Foundation Board of Directors recently elected newofficers and six new Directors for the 2017-2018 board year, which begins July 1. more
Thursday, April 27, 2017
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation recently awarded $401,000 in grants to organizations throughout the five-county area. These awards are from the Community Foundation’s designated endowments and include support for arts and culture, education, environment, health and human services, and youth. more
Sunday, December 25, 2016
At your Community Foundation we know that to make a difference it takes the generosity of many donors with gifts both large and small. We also know that it takes the wholehearted commitment of the nonprofit organizations that are delivering critical and valuable programs and services every day, in every corner of our region. more
Thursday, December 15, 2016
At your Community Foundation, we match donor passion with purpose. This concept comes to life in many ways throughout the year. Most recently, it was realized when our Board of Directors approved more than $230,000 in grant awards to 50 organizations across our region, as part of our 2016 fall grant cycle. These awards bring our year-to-date grants total to more than $2.4 million. more
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Earlier this year, our Board provided funding to launch Endowments designed to support organizations, programs, and services within each of the five counties in our region. These county-based endowments create localized giving opportunities to support a long-term resource that will impact broad community needs and interests now and for generations to come. more
Friday, October 14, 2016
At your Community Foundation, we are privileged in our role as the local giving partner for lasting community impact. Every day we have the honor of partnering with donors, creating meaningful, lasting giving opportunities that allow us to match donor passion with purpose now and for generations to come. We are proud of two new giving opportunities created at the Community Foundation to support and honor veterans and their families. more
Thursday, October 13, 2016
What will you be doing in 100 years? While this may seem like a rhetorical question, there actually can be a surprising and inspiring answer – changing lives. more
Thursday, June 9, 2016
A recent survey points out that nearly 90% of wealthy families that had engaged a trusts and estates lawyer to design their estate plans, but who never followed through to the end, felt the estate plan did not deal with their goals, wants, and objectives. This gap in understanding may be a place where the Community Foundation can be an effective partner for you and your clients. We are uniquely qualified to help donors identify what issues they care about most and help them match their passion with a purpose. Together we can help them create a lasting impression. more
Monday, June 6, 2016
What if you could make a gift today that supported annual grants this year, the next, the next, and so on... forever? You might ask yourself, what kind of math is this… give it away, give it away again, and keep giving it away throughout your lifetime and beyond? more
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
While the question of what is wrong with the youth of today will likely still be asked — and many of us will, at times, be compelled to ask it ourselves — here at the Community Foundation, we have the unique opportunity and privilege to experience, encourage and foster what is very right about the youth of today. more
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Area youth are joining with other youth around the world as part of Global Youth Service Day on Saturday, April 16. The Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is hosting this event – its inaugural service project in our communities – in partnership with churches, schools, and nonprofits across the region. more
Friday, March 18, 2016
We often talk about opportunities to leave a lasting impression as it relates to the giving of financial resources. But, consider this: we each have the opportunity for legacy that is just as important, if not more so, than the financial impact we might create in a planned gift. more
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Is applying for a local scholarship in your plans - or the plans of someone you know ? Check out these tips to ensure the process is as painless as possible! more
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Bill Gates says that “philanthropy’s role is to get things started… Good ideas need evangelists. Forgotten communities need advocates. And whether your chief resource is volunteer time or hard-earned dollars, for a relatively small investment, catalytic philanthropy can make a big impact. For me it’s proven to be the best job in the world, as thrilling and humbling as anything I’ve ever done.” So what? How can this relate to us, in our corner of the world? more
Monday, February 1, 2016
The Community Foundation is home to more than 35 unique regional scholarship opportunities that are geared toward a range of students, including students planning to attend trade schools, community colleges, and universities. We are now accepting applications! more
Monday, December 21, 2015
In a historic vote, Congress passed the IRA Charitable Rollover into permanent law, making it available to donors and charities for the foreseeable future. more
Friday, June 13, 2014
The Community Foundation Board of Directors elects new officers and directors for the 2014-2015 board year, which begins July 1. more
Thursday, May 15, 2014
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” I’ve often used this quote to give some description to planned giving or gifts today that will have impact for generations to come more
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
A recent request from the Mott Foundation leads to a story of community impact in a variety of environmental efforts more
