That’s what Elaine Wood said as she introduced the program which covered the ever-changing and deepening of Rotary Charities perspective on the communities it serves and the how it uses its resources. The program also featured Marsha Smith defining the newly evolving role Rotary Charities will play in the future of our region.

Rotary Charities (RC) has a commitment to serve the region in perpetuity and toward that end the organization has taken a long look at itself, its past, its practices and its future. A future that is exciting for both Rotary Charities and the organizations it serves.

Since 1978, Rotary Charities has funded the not-for-profit community to the tune of $54 million dollars, resulting in more than 1100 grants. Along the way Rotary Charities built an incubation model that has strengthened and highlighted its impact:

·         The Grand Traverse Land Conservancy has preserved 39,000 acres of land and protected 121 miles of shoreline over its 25-year history

·         The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation has leveraged the initial investment made by Rotary Charities over the last quarter century resulting in $49 million in endowed funds and has contributed some $48 million in that time

·         NorthSky Non-Profit Network serves the rather large number of non-profits throughout the region with resources that aid those organizations as they build capacity, and with strategic and program planning and consultation

Additional investment in Downtown has enlivened the cultural life there and enhanced the vibrancy of the city:

·         The Park Place Hotel anchors downtown

·         State Theatre has seen over one million visitors in its first 5 years adding to the renaissance of the downtown corridor

·         The newly purchased Discovery Pier is expected to enhance and improve water access to the West End

With all Rotary Charities has accomplished, it begs the question: Why Change? Well…the short answer is RC is forever changing. That is how the past ventures were accomplished. RC sees itself committed to continuous growth from the early capital projects through its incubations to fostering multiple year grants forward to capacity building. Now it looks to catalyzing resources.

In May 2014 the RC Board made a commitment to this new view. The vision remained, but the purpose evolved. Looking to bring organizations and communities together to realize their individual and collaborative goals through connecting and adapting to the economic realities of a changing environment that is moving incredibly fast. Interdependence is the new normal and it is marked by the systems within which we work. There are new tools and ideas that RC is embracing as it takes the long look forward and seeks to merge the avenues of Public-Private-and For-Purpose (aka: non-profit) sectors and support them at the nexus of that interaction.

The goal is to view applicants within the context of the systems which they operate, recognizing that systems do not change quickly and that they are far more complex, and to seek the points of interconnectedness, and support at those key junctures while maintain accountability.

Some of the new and evolving Programs and services are:

·         Impact investing – using a portion of Rotary Charities current investment portfolio to invest locally with a hope of generating economic, social or environmental benefits and provide a return.

·         Program Related Investments expansion – building the amount available to serve as low interest loans, lines of credit, and loan guarantees to create a revolving loan pool to leverage and unlock more capital to support organizations and projects.

·         An Innovation fund – creating a flexible pool funding that will be available to try new strategies, fund pilot projects, and learn with grantees.

·         Seed grants – Planning grants will be renamed and expanded to align with the new direction. The maximum amount will be increased to $10,000 and applications will be accepted at any time.  New applications will be available by September. 

·         NorthSky  will continue experimenting with new approaches and  looking at new diagnostic tools, team consulting, communities of practice, etc.

To Learn, Connect and Adapt are at the center of this new and exciting strategy that fosters collaboration of entities rather than competition. Intention and Contribution are watchwords.