Livingston County Community Foundation

As a chosen recipient of Elevate Prize funding and professional support, I will use the funds to bear the cost of a professional fund developer's salary for three years. This person will raise nearly $2 million in cash annually for nonprofits in 18 rural Western Kentucky counties. The area is situated in the Delta Regional Authority, one of the nation's most poverty-stricken regions. Besides raising much-needed cash for nonprofits, the fund developer will educate citizens on philanthropic opportunities while building each county a community endowment and increasing the organizational capacity of community nonprofits. Through its unique "all-inclusive" design that provides accessible giving opportunities for all donors, both small and large, the development of SowLocal! community funds will generate community wealth never seen before in these rural counties. I will use the support to develop an effective plan to share the good news (and a secret I hold) with the citizens in these amazing communities. Your professionals will help me gain the skills I need to elevate hope in communities that have battled despair. The exposure will accelerate the rate at which we communicate the foundation's purpose and perpetuate local giving to increase the quality of life in rural communities.

I am an overcomer, and nothing will stop me from seeing this dream become a reality. As a first-generation college graduate who will earn my doctorate in Leadership Studies this August, I am dedicated to breaking generational cycles and improving the quality of life by increasing financial resources and organizational capacity of nonprofits in rural regions. My life was once engulfed in despair due to a profound unknown health condition, until an opportunity presented itself and I became a grant writer. I was awarded over $2 million to fund projects that established a rural health alliance to combat mental health and substance use disorders, updated the county communication infrastructure, amongst others. I established the Livingston County Community Foundation, a brand-new concept to our county. I see the foundation as an avenue to release my community from the grips of hopelessness. My drive to see the foundation vision into fruition led to a deeper desire to address my health. A new MRI found a brain tumor, and it was soon removed. The opportunity to live within my abilities, rather than inability, changed my life. Our organization provides traditionally economically challenged communities the opportunity to thrive within their abilities as well. 

Western Kentucky is located in the Delta Region Authority (DRA) of the United States. The DRA was established in 1988 and consisted of the "poorest counties" in the nation.  Wow, what a label! Have you ever heard of a poverty mindset? This is where you find it. The government has used the DRA to provide much-needed assistance to this area, but their money cannot change the citizens' perspective. Citizens in these communities have indeed experienced harsh poverty in the past. Yet, they do not realize that as they move out of poverty, those who live above the poverty line can accelerate the process (secret revealed…ability!). When the DRA was established, the counties held a poverty rate of 22% compared to 12% nationally. Today the average for this region is 17.2% compared to 13.7% projected for 2021. While one person living in poverty is not good, 82.8% live above the poverty line. SowLocal! community funds pull communities away from thoughts of "poorest counties" status. We have a local responsibility to break the generational story, and community foundations are perfect for the task. Wait, what's a community foundation? That's something for rich people. We're just poor folks. Hello, poverty mindset.

SowLocal! community funds are innovative in that they offer rural America a way to take ownership of their economic condition. In Livingston County, there are 9,200 people and 1,800 households with income greater than $50,000 (less than the national median, but the cost of living is also 16.4 index points less). Commitment from 400 people (4% of the population) of a $21 monthly donation ($250 per year) generates $100,000 annually through grants. An additional 400 donors (8% of the population), generates another $100,000 to simultaneously build a community endowment for future needs. Can you afford to treat your community to one dinner a month? SowLocal! community funds are "all-inclusive," designed for both small and large donors. Donors can choose monthly recurring donations, annual gifts, or lifetime gifts through a bequest. In 2010, the KY Philanthropy Initiative found that if a community foundation could capture only 5% of the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next, it would secure $21.41 billion in community assets to generate tens of millions annually for nonprofit initiatives in Western Kentucky. Every county in Western Kentucky needs a SowLocal! fund. Without them, there is no avenue to strategically capture community wealth for betterment causes. 

The body of academic literature consistently shows nonprofits in rural communities are challenged by limited resources. This is not limited to financial resources but also includes human resources needed to maximize organizational capacity and increase the impact on the community. SowLocal! funds are designed to support local nonprofits in rural America that impact humanity in diverse ways. With the $100,000 annual payout, the Livingston fund supports early childhood education, strengthening families’ initiatives, schools, basic needs, food insecurity, mental health, substance use recovery, 4H student leadership programs, public library, arts, and local veteran organizations. Our saying is that a little goes a long way in Livingston! That holds true with a total population of only 9,200 people. To move toward the vision of SowLocal! funds in every county, I left my job with the school district to become an independent nonprofit grant writer with the Community Foundation of West Kentucky, a foundation that oversees $30 million in community assets. Research shows that rural nonprofits' most effective ways to increase organizational capacity are through affiliation and shared resources. SowLocal! funds allow each county to share professional services provided by a nonprofit consultant/grant writer and soon-to-be fund developer/leadership coach (with your help!).