Community foundation awards new Bright Idea Fund grants

The Navarino Nature Center and Shawano County Arts Council are among the recipients of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region’s Bright Ideas Fund grants.

As its 2020 fiscal year came to a close on June 30, the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region announced that 44 local arts and culture, environment, and racial and ethnic support organizations received grants totaling $114,000 from its Bright Idea Fund.

This permanent charitable fund combines donations for projects in Shawano, Calumet, Outagamie, Waupaca and the Neenah-Menasha area of Winnebago counties.

“As the impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues, the Community Foundation’s board of directors, guided by staff input, proactively awarded Bright Idea Fund grants that could help multiple organizations that have had fewer opportunities for funding or have been overlooked,” said Curt Detjen, President and CEO of the foundation. “They all play an important role in our region’s quality of life.”

For local nonprofit organizations, the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are widespread and long-term, including operational interruption, earned revenue and fundraising event losses, reduced volunteer participation due to safety concerns, and added costs such as personal protective equipment.

Since March, the COVID-19 Community Response Fund has provided 87 grants totaling $916,400 primarily to nonprofit organizations providing urgent basic needs support.

“This funding has been crucial to maintaining the region’s social safety net. Yet, we know things like listening to virtual concerts or taking a walk in the woods feed our soul and give us hope, which are also crucial. Our nation also faces urgent issues of equity and racial justice. Now is the time to do our part and get engaged,” said Carolyn Desrosiers, community engagement manager for the foundation.

In addition to gathering feedback directly from Fox Valley nonprofits, the community foundation was also informed by a recent study on the impact of COVID-19 on the nonprofit sector conducted by the Helen Bader Institute for Nonprofit Management at the University of Milwaukee, in partnership with the Institute for Nonprofit Management Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and affiliate faculty throughout the UW-System.

Other Bright Idea Fund grant recipients as of June 2020 include:

Arts, Culture and Environment

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many local arts, culture and environmental organizations are facing significant financial losses due to cancelled events, field trips, reduced ticket/entry fee revenue, and reduced philanthropic support. The Community Foundation proactively awarded small-medium sized unrestricted relief grants to select organizations based on their size, impact, relevance and whether they receive significant governmental support:

Appleton Boychoir, Attic Chamber Theatre, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Brillion Nature Study Center Association, Community Music & Arts Collaborative, Fallen Timbers (CESA Foundation, Inc.), FC Environmental Learning Campus/Bubolz Nature Preserve, Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra Association, Friends of Grignon Mansion, Friends of Hearthstone, Friends of Mosquito Hill, Friends of the 1,000 Island Nature Center, Friends of the Chilton Area Performing Arts, Heckrodt Wetland Reserve, Lawrence Academy of Music, Ledgeview Nature Center, Makaroff Youth Ballet, Neenah Historical Society, newVoices, Outagamie County Historical Society, Paper Discovery Center, The Building for Kids, The Trout Museum of Art, Waupaca Community Arts Board, Weyauwega Arts Organization.

Racial and Ethnic Support

Small proactive grants were awarded to organizations engaged in racial and ethnic support, advocacy and leadership work in the Fox Valley region. Grants address needs related to Covid-19 and/or advancing equity locally: African Heritage, Casa Hispana, Celebrate Diversity Fox Cities, Diverse & Resilient, ESTHER (WISDOM, Inc.), Fox Valley Literacy, Hmong American Partnership, IndUS of Fox Valley, Umoja,Inc., a Black Heritage Experience, United Hmong American Association, World Relief Fox Valley.