By Terry Georgia
The Surveyor

Each year the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor kicks off the holiday season by highlighting opportunities for gratitude and giving. This is the first installment of a five-part series, each week featuring an organization that provides services to members of our community.
Over the past 23 years, the Berthoud Community Fund has distributed nearly $625,000 in grants to help fund projects for a variety of non-profit organizations in Berthoud. The impact of these grants has been felt throughout the community. House of Neighborly Service, Wildfire Arts Community Center, Meals on Wheels, Berthoud Historical Society, Berthoud Habitat for Humanity, A Little Help and Berthoud Robotics are among more than 20 organizations that have received grants in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. Grants are typically awarded twice each year.
Just this month, The Berthoud Community Fund awarded $21,000 to four local non-profits: Wildfire Community Arts Center, Berthoud Habitat for Humanity, House of Neighborly Service and Foster and Adoptive Families of Larimer County.
The Berthoud Community Fund is not itself a non-profit, but one of about 600 funds managed under the umbrella of The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. A committee of 5-7 Berthoud residents, business owners and political leaders review applications to the Berthoud Fund and decide how available money will be distributed.
Based in Ft. Collins and covering the seven counties that make up northern Colorado, The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado was founded in 1975 as a way to bring philanthropists and non-profit causes together. Claire Bouchard, Director of Community Engagement and Communication for the Foundation describes it as a “convening” or a way to help match philanthropists with ways to make an impact in local communities. She described many ways the Foundation assists donors by managing their investments and administering the distribution of their donations. The Foundation can help donors fulfill their philanthropic goals by advising them on area non-profits whose work aligns with those goals. One family may choose to set up a fund geared toward helping children while another may decide to designate wildlife preservation and water conservation causes. Other donors may take a narrower approach and ask the Foundation to endow a scholarship fund or make regular donations to established non-profits. The Foundation currently manages $192 million across more than 600 funds.
Bouchard said that donors come to them for many different reasons. Some want to set up perpetual endowments while they are still living, others may have inherited an estate and need help determining how to fulfill their loved one’s final wishes. Business owners who may be too busy to deal with the details of their philanthropic legacy may come to the Foundation for assistance in administration.“Our goal is to match philanthropists with impact.” said Bouchard, “We’re the eyes and ears of the community for our donors.”
On the other end of the spectrum, the Foundation can help local non-profit groups find donors who are willing to help with their causes. The Foundation becomes a matchmaker of sorts, to build relationships between donors and non-profits who need their support.
In some cases, several donors join forces to create a “community fund” in order to benefit a specific town or city. This is how the Berthoud Community Fund began.
According to Bouchard, Berthoud’s Community Fund was established in 1995 when four Berthoud residents pooled their money to create an endowment as a sustainable funding source for the long-term benefit of Berthoud. A committee was appointed to oversee the distribution of funds to Berthoud-based non-profit groups. The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado invests and administers the Berthoud Fund, telling the committee how much money they have available to distribute during each grant cycle.
Members of the committee are volunteers who follow a specific list of criteria when reviewing each application for funding. The criteria are:
1. Raise visibility for the Fund (to attract additional donors)
2. Engage the community
3. Make a visible impact
4. Promote Berthoud as a great place to live and raise kids
5. Projects must be Berthoud community-oriented
6. Must be a sustainable cause
7. Must have accomplishable goals
8. A bonus if the project creates collaboration among community members
Committee member Whitney Way, owner of City Star Brewery, who has served on the committee for about a year, says she’d love to see more non-profits apply for grants from the Fund and more donors contribute to the Fund. “It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to support and help these organizations by being able to do more because we have the leverage to do more.” said Way.
Misha Maggi has served on Berthoud’s Community Fund committee off and on for nearly 20 years. Her passion for the work they’ve done is clear. “The fund has been around long enough that we’ve supported some non-profits since their inception,” said Maggi, “and [we] have had the privilege of seeing them grow and thrive year after year. [Even] though our individual grants may have been small, that longevity is impactful!” She added that the committee members themselves have become a vital resource for local non-profits. “Our members are not only dedicated to awarding meaningful grants, but to finding ways to help nonprofits network and collaborate with each other and leverage other resources to further their mission.” said Maggi, “I am always inspired by the innovative ideas and solid advice our members come up with, and their passion for seeing the nonprofit sector of the Berthoud community flourish.” Current members of the Berthoud Community Fund committee are Stu Boyd, Debbie Davis, Will Karspeck, Misha Maggi and Whitney Way.
New donations to the fund are always welcome. As stated on the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado website, “Donors are encouraged to consider leaving a lasting legacy for Berthoud through major gifts such as real estate, mineral rights, water rights, and estate gifts. Over the long term, these gifts will strengthen future generations, providing the basis for creating impact and leaving a legacy.”
For more information about how to become a donor or how to apply for a grant, visit The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado at: nocofoundation.org.