Community Fund Makes Gains by Appealing to a Sense of Kinship
By Eric Frazier
OVER the past two years, tough economic times haven’t stopped the
Greater Kansas City Community Foundation from posting the
kind of financial numbers most
fund raisers would drool over.
In 2008, 158 families, businesses, and individuals opened
donor accounts. In 2009, in the
midst of one of the worst recessions in American history, that
number climbed to 223, and
total donations from private
sources rose by more than 14
percent.
“Kansas City is an extremely
giving environment,” says Lau-
ra McKnight, the foundation’s
president. “The stats here just
blow other places out of the wa-
ter.”
The strong showing made the
Missouri organization one of the
more intriguing bright spots in
this year’s Philanthropy 400,
The Chronicle’s annual rank-
ing of charities that raised the
most money from private do-
nations. The community fund
ranked No. 83 on this year’s
list, reporting that it garnered
nearly $200.5-million in private
support in 2009.
The Greater Kansas City
Community Foundation is
also the organization that has
jumped the highest since the
Philanthropy 400 was started,
leaping 291 slots from its debut
at No. 374 on The Chronicle’s
first-ever list back in 1991.
The charity’s recent numbers
raise an obvious question: How
could such healthy increases
show up in the midst of such a
bleak economy?
Ms. McKnight credits the
can-do philanthropic spirit of
Kansas City’s residents as well
as her organization’s zeal for
continuous improvement. One of
the smartest things the foundation has done in recent years—
and a move she would recom-
DAVID SHAUGHNESS Y
Laura McKnight (above, with her daughter)
says family-friendly opportunities
for philanthropy, such as Giving Cards (right)
have helped her organization, the Greater
Kansas City Community Foundation,
broaden its reach.
mend to others, she says—was
to study its market for insight
on what motivates the region’s
residents to give.
ties should receive their donation). The donor-advised funds
require no minimum account
balance and charge only a $250
annual administrative fee.
“We cast a very wide net about
what it means to be charitable,”
Ms. McKnight says. “We impose
very few guilt-based limitations
on the size of gifts. People writ-
ing the big checks are inspired
by the people writing the small
checks, and vice versa.”
of giving cards that work like
retail gift cards, except a pay-
ment is processed directly to
the designated charity when
the card is redeemed through
the foundation’s Web site. The
cards can be purchased for as
little as $10.
A ‘Midwestern Ethic’
About a year or so ago, the organization asked Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy to analyze charitable giving in Kansas City. The results
proved enlightening.
The center found that the region has long exceeded national
norms in charitable giving. The
growth rate in giving by individuals rose by 128 percent from
1997 to 2007, compared to a 30-
percent increase nationally.
Individuals with incomes of
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Philanthropy 400 rank: No. 83
Private support in 2009: $200,474,463
Percentage change from 2008: + 14 percent
Secret of its success: Welcomed donations of all sizes and
created family-friendly opportunities for giving
$100,000 or more give almost
twice the national average to
charity each year, and the average annual household gift is 50
percent higher than the national average.
Why? Ms. McKnight says
the center’s research suggested
Midwesterners are more likely
than people in any other region
to give because they want to
make the community better, as
opposed to other common rea-
sons for giving, such as earning
tax breaks. “There’s something
about this Midwestern ethic of
taking care of your neighbor
that plays into it,” says Anne St.
Peter, chair of the foundation’s
board of directors and founder
of Global Prairie, a communi-
cations consulting firm. “They
want to not only do well but to
do good also.”
The foundation has reacted
accordingly, emphasizing guilt-
free, “feel good” giving experi-
ences that capitalize on Kansas
City residents’ already-strong
inclination toward philanthro-
py. To pull in as many residents
and as much of that community
goodwill as possible, the founda-
tion makes it clear that it wel-
comes all gifts, regardless of
size. For example, the group en-
courages any person, business,
or family to set up a donor-ad-
vised fund (in which donors can
make a gift, reap tax benefits,
and later decide which chari-
Giving for All Ages
In the past couple of years,
the foundation created several
new projects to reinforce that
notion and to give donors the
kind of feel-good experiences
that might entice them to give
again, and perhaps even give
more.
For example, Camp Charity
gets kids ages 8 to 15 involved
in giving; the four-hour camp
gives kids and their parents or
grandparents a chance to hear
inspiring stories from teenagers who are involved in charitable giving and introduces participants to tools for evaluating
charities.
The Teen Philanthropy Institute brings youngsters together
to learn about charities and to
award more than $10,000 (
derived from $500 donations from
the kids’ families) to nonprofits
of their choice. And the community fund makes extensive use
Public Information
Despite the generosity of
Kansas City’s residents, many
other charities in the region
have been struggling in the past
couple of years, notes Dalton
Hermes, a former community
foundation board member who
is now a donor to the fund. He
said the foundation’s rising revenues stand as a testament to
the hard work of Ms. McKnight
and her staff.
He and Ms. St. Peter both
point to what they call the organization’s culture of continuous improvement and innovation. About eight years ago, for
instance, it created a database
that allows the public to search
the group’s research and on-site
evaluations of nonprofit organizations. Other foundations
are beginning to adopt similar
practices, says Ms. McKnight.
(Notably, the Seattle Foundation announced in September
the creation of a Web site that
allows donors to learn about local charities and contribute to
them.)
“That community foundation
runs as much like a business as
any nonprofit organization I’ve
ever been associated with,” says
Mr. Hermes, owner of a landscaping firm. “It’s not flawless
execution, but it’s as close to
perfect as I’ve seen.”
