The Alaska Community Foundation is you. It’s me. It’s all of us working together to make a lasting impact in Alaska. Together, we can make a greater impact with our charitable dollars than we could do individually.
ACF was formed in 1995 to be a public, nonprofit foundation for all of Alaska that promotes effective, sustainable, local philanthropy. Individuals, nonprofits and organizations can pool their resources into one foundation for maximum efficiency. Today, we manage about $75 million in assets. Through the generosity of donors like you, in the past 20 years ACF has awarded more than $50 million in grants to improve the lives of Alaskans.
You can be part of this movement to strengthen Alaska further.
Credit: Fairbanks Rescue Mission
Nonprofits serve essential needs across Alaska and deserve annual support. The Alaska Community Foundation supports the work of nonprofits and local communities in three major ways: by making grants from our permanent endowed and non-endowed funds, by convening nonprofits and community members together to maximize impact, and by serving as a source for donors who wish to make a difference.
Katmai National Park
We empower local communities to identify needs and solve local problems. In that spirit, ACF partners with nine Affiliate Community Foundations including Seward, Kenai, Chilkat Valley, Golden Heart, Talkeetna, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Kodiak and Sitka. Led by dedicated volunteers, our nine Affiliates are pioneering home-grown philanthropy across Alaska.
We connect donors with causes they care about, and aid nonprofits with resources they might not otherwise have. With a wide variety of funds and giving options, everyone and anyone can support the causes they care about. Whether you are a nonprofit organization looking to set up an endowment for future reserves, a community leader partnering with others to accomplish projects for a better Alaska, or an individual or family looking to realize your own philanthropic goals, The Alaska Community Foundation can help you maximize your impact.
Because ACF pools resources, we can multiply the impact of gifts.
Credit: Morris Thompson Cultural Center
ACF works as a convener – bringing together key Alaskans, nonprofit leaders and multiple funding sources to respond to complex issues such as suicide prevention, homelessness and workforce development. The staff of the Alaska Community Foundation have deep roots in Alaska; in fact many of us are life-long Alaskans. We know the issues of our state and the organizations that are working effectively to address needs and expand opportunities.
As a grant maker, we grant funds to a wide variety of causes – arts, education, health and wellness, environmental projects, and even disaster relief.
In last year alone, ACF has awarded $4.6 million through 737 grants and scholarships to 58 communities across Alaska.
Below, you’ll find just a few of the stories of these nonprofits and partnerships making a difference.
As a public foundation, we connect people who care with causes that matter. As such, we tailor our services to each individual’s charitable and financial interests and help people invest in the causes and organizations they believe will have the most impact in Alaska.
Credit: Marion Owen
When you, as a donor, a nonprofit organization, or as a community member, give to a fund or a project at ACF, your donation is protected and grown, and the earnings are used to support the causes you care about for the long term. We believe that grants made tomorrow are as important as grants made today.
Most importantly, we serve our community because we are led by our community. The Alaska Community Foundation was founded by Alaskans for the long-term benefit of Alaska. It is your community foundation.
Through ACF, community members can create the world they envision through the causes that they support.
Credit: Anchorage Parks Foundation
Whether that’s a place without homelessness, or one where beautiful works of art or natural spaces are accessible to all, we help Alaskans realize their visions. By enabling donors with a vehicle through which to give, we help them improve the world in which we all live – and create an Alaska where communities have the resources to thrive.
Interactive Funding Map
Click on the tabs below and then the location on the map to browse all funding. After clicking on a location, the data for that spot shows up below the map. Make sure you scroll through it, as sometimes the list is quite extensive!
It’s a cold winter night in Anchorage. Because of a caring coalition, fewer children are sleeping outside or in a car this evening.
Led by United Way, more than 20 organizations joined together and found a safe solution for families who sleep outside during the winter and to provide the resources they need to build self-sufficiency.
Their mission:
“To ensure that no family with children sleeps in an unsafe place during the coldest months of the year.”
Their partners include AWAIC, Alaska 2-1-1, American Red Cross, Anchorage City Church, Anchorage Community Mental Health Services, Anchorage School District – Child in Transition, Catholic Social Services, Central Lutheran Church, Changepoint Alaska, Christian Health Associates, The Coalition to End Homelessness, Cornerstone Church, Covenant House, First Presbyterian Church, Love INC, Muldoon Community Assembly, Municipality of Anchorage, NeighborWorks Anchorage, Providence Health & Services-In-Home Services, Safe Harbor Inn, The Salvation Army, and Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church.
Through a collaboration with the 211 call center, AWAIC and United Way provide transportation services to seven sleeping facilities managed by the faith-based community. Run by over 100 volunteers, these facilities provide emergency shelter seven nights a week. In addition, other organizations have been providing case management services to these families, enabling them to get the help they need to achieve stability.
In 2015 donors like you supported this effort through The Alaska Community Foundation’s “Fund for the Homeless.” a Field-of-Interest fund designed to meet the ever-changing needs of Alaskans without a permanent place to stay. These field-of-interest funds allow ACF to make discretionary grants to important, collaborative projects such as “Beyond Shelter”, and support valuable community partnerships. ACF connects donors with high-impact, collaborative activities to help donors multiply the impact of their giving.
When our clients get to the shelter, they have exhausted every resource they know. [They] come ashamed, with no money, and even no clothes.” – Marilyn Casteel, Safe and Fear-Free Environment, Dillingham
This emergency grant is especially meaningful because it helps fill the gap between when families come into need and when they can start receiving food assistance from state agencies.” – Jackie Hill, Maniilaq Association, Kotzebue
In challenging economic times, the hardest hit are those who are the most vulnerable – the poor, the hungry, the homeless.
Credit: Kelli Shroyer, Maniilaq Association
Through the generosity of donors giving to unrestricted and Field of Interest funds, The Alaska Community Foundation awarded $165,000 in grants across Alaska to support nonprofit organizations meeting Alaskan’s most fundamental needs.
Two recipients of these Basic Needs Grants were Safe and Fear Free Environment (SAFE) in Dillingham and Maniilaq Association in Kotzebue.
In Dillingham, a single nonprofit provides food, shelter, and clothing for those who have nowhere else to go. Providing help for domestic violence and sexual assault victims from 33 villages and tribes across the Bristol Bay region, Safe and Fear-Free Environment (SAFE), served over 600 women, men, and children in 2015. They received an ACF grant for operational support.
Photo Credit: Kelli Shroyer
In the Northwest Arctic Borough, Maniilaq Association provides a wide array of social services for families and individuals in need. In particular, they furnish emergency food supplies for those who have exhausted all other resources. The grant they received from ACF provided food for an estimated 80-90 families.
Unrestricted funding at The Alaska Community Foundation is built on the premise that every individual, and every gift, can have incredible impact when pooled with others and allocated to the areas of greatest need.
Photo credit: Kelli Shroyer
With deep roots in our communities through our partners and Affiliates, ACF enables everyone and anyone to the support the causes they care about. We have broad expertise regarding community needs. And because we combine resources, we can multiply the impact of gifts – like those awarded to SAFE and Maniilaq Association. These funds represent a partnership on the highest level – one devoid of all preferences except for a dedication to the greatest need and the community good.
Photo credit: Kelli Shroyer
Through unrestricted funding contributions, The Alaska Community Foundation is able to combine the resources of many and allocate them to changing community needs over time. While our needs might not stay the same through the years, we know that need itself will remain. Through the partnerships of unrestricted funding, ACF can ensure that there will also always be resources to address them.
You don’t have to be a tycoon to make a difference. You just have to care.
How do you honor a place you call home? A place where you grew up, made friends, met your spouse and built your career?
For Margaret and Leland Rich, the answer is simple: give what you can to help build a lasting community endowment. This couple, who has deep roots in Fairbanks, gives annually to the Golden Heart Community Foundation (GHCF) in central Alaska and is leaving a gift for GHCF in their will. Margaret also serves on the GHCF Advisory Board.
I was born, raised, and choose to live in Fairbanks. This state has been good to me. My heart is in this town.
It now breaks my heart to think of homeless kids, kids who don’t have enough to eat, adults who don’t have enough to eat, people with disabilities, mental challenges or medical needs, people and animals who are neglected or abused, seniors who need help, people who need assistance when they are dying, and on and on. I see needs in our community to maintain and improve our quality of life…arts, recreation, environmental concerns and more.
A believer in the power of endowments and the importance of a healthy nonprofit sector for thriving communities, Margaret has chosen to give back to the community she loves so much through her service now and her legacy later.
I want to give back to the community that means so much to me. I am not rich. What my mother told me years ago, still applies to me now – “Some have more money than I have, and I have more money than others.
With that in mind, Margaret has chosen to leave gifts for several nonprofits to set up or add to their endowment funds at ACF. The majority of her gift, however, will go to The Golden Heart Community Foundation’s unrestricted fund, because, as she says, “it has flexibility.”
I believe in an unrestricted foundation for the Interior of Alaska. The contributions will keep working year after year, and the earnings can be granted out annually and adapted as the future needs change.
While Margaret clearly believes in the importance of unrestricted funds, she also has a deep commitment to the value of endowments.
There is even more satisfaction donating to endowment funds, where the original contribution is treated like a permanent savings account and only the earnings are spent. When a non-profit has an endowment, I feel they believe in their future, and it gives me another reason to believe in it.
Margaret’s commitment to her community is epitomized in her support of The Golden Heart Community Foundation. An Affiliate of The Alaska Community Foundation, Golden Heart CF is one of nine “satellite” community foundations.
Under ACF’s umbrella, these groups are carrying out homegrown philanthropy in their own communities. They embody the spirit of community foundations, ensuring that philanthropy grows from the ground up and is led by locals committed to their communities and future generations.
The Golden Heart Community Foundation serves the Fairbanks, North Pole, and the surrounding regions. Their moniker, the “Golden Heart”, describes both their central location and the community’s generosity of spirit. Formed in 2013 as part of the second cycle of ACF Affiliates, The Golden Heart Community Foundation “continues the pioneering spirit of those who were here before us and ensure the greater Fairbanks area communities continue to thrive long into the future.”
Fortunately, there are many others who feel just as Margaret does about her community:
I feel fortunate to live in Fairbanks with many good people. In appreciation, I want to leave something lasting that will benefit the community for many years. The Golden Heart Community Foundation provides the vehicle for me to do so.
The Alaska Community Foundation’s investment goals are to preserve and enhance the real value of charitable assets over time and to provide for grantmaking in perpetuity. Because we believe grants for tomorrow are as important as grants made today our overriding investment objective for our endowed funds is to maintain purchasing power by maintaining a diverse portfolio and adhering to investment discipline. To maintain purchasing power over the long-term without excessive risk, ACF’s investment goal is to return 7% on average.
Alaskans once again proved their generosity in 2016.
Doug and Marli Holden of AK Cat with Cribby, a rescue
This past year, Alaskans set a record for the average amount donated per person through Pick.Click.Give., reaching $108, up from a $100 average in 2015. This generosity led to the second highest amount pledged in the program’s history.
Indeed, in 2016, 29,543 Alaskans donated $3,192,725 from their PFDs. While this was a slight decrease from the record amount of $3,329,575 in 2015, it was nevertheless an impressive response in giving.
Since 2008, Pick.Click.Give. has grown from an idea to a statewide effort that unites thousands of donors and hundreds of nonprofits through a network of giving across the state. For many participating organizations, the impact of Pick.Click.Give. can be enormous. A first time participant in 2016, AK Cat, earned $6,625 in pledges from Pick.Click.Give. and won an award for being the highest earning first-time Pick.Click.Give. participant.
ACF staff were priviledged to have Doug and Marli Holden visit our offices and share how grateful they were for the program. They expressed that they could not have kept their organization running if it weren’t for the additional donations they received from Pick.Click.Give. – a true testament to the program’s impact!
Two statistics from the 2016 cycle give us encouragement for 2017; the highest ever dollars-per-donor amount ($108) and growth in participating nonprofits from the year before (540 to 638). These numbers show the value of the program to both Alaska residents and nonprofits alike.
However, the benefits of Pick.Click.Give. reach beyond dollars alone, for it is clear that the program has increased the awareness of Alaskans about the power of nonprofits in our communities. Each year, Pick.Click.Give. allows Alaskans to see the positive impact that their donations make around our state. In 2017, a record 720 nonprofits representing many different types of causes will participate in the program – giving Alaskans more reasons than ever to Pick.Click.Give.
Campaign for Alaska’s Future
Credit: Babbie Jacobs
Alaska has been good to so many of us, and this is a way we can all give back. The Alaska Community Foundation is working throughout Alaska and in other states to raise $50 million for a charitable endowment to benefit all of Alaska.
That may seem like a lot of money, especially in today’s economic times. But we can do this through the participation of hundreds of donors like you who can make a gift today or through your will. By participating you are expressing your love and commitment to a more caring and compassionate Alaska.
Once we raise an additional $50 million, Alaska will have an additional $2.5 million available annually in charitable impact.
That’s a legacy you can feel proud of.
The Alaska Community Foundation is here to help you give to the causes you care about most. If you love Alaska, consider giving to The Alaska Fund – a flexible endowment that meets the needs of our communities as they arise. We can’t predict what the future will hold, but we can ensure that generations to come will have the philanthropic resources to address emerging needs and opportunities. Your gift of any level grows that endowment, enabling it to reach more people across the state.
United Methodist Women Anchor Park United Methodist Church
Usibelli Foundation
Bill and Mary Jane Valentine
Valley Charities, Inc.
Julie Varee
Therese Veker
Michael and Tonya Venneberg
Joseph Ver
Victory Ministries of Alaska
Viking Lumber Company
Viking Travel, Inc
Visit Anchorage
Kate Vogel
Deborah Vogt
N.E. and Susan Vosburg
Suzanne Vuillet-Smith
Ronnie and Cedar Waggoner
Madelyn Walker
Monika Walker
Michael and Kristie Wall
Bridget and Richard Walsh
Sharen A. Walsh
Wayne and Donna Walter
Zoe Wangstrom
Terral Wanzer
Doris Ward
Wartes Floor Covering
Colleen Watson and Tom Gregg
Gretchen Weeks
David Weldon
Wells Fargo Foundation
Laura Welsh
Wendler Middle School
Andy West
West High Class 1975
West High Class 1985
West High School PTSA
Bruce and Luann Weyhrauch
Whale Tail Pharmacy
Leslie Wheeless and Stephen B. Locklear
Marina Whitacre
Dirk and Trish White
White’s Inc.
George Whitman
Rebecca Widmer
Richard and Sally Wien
Sharon C. Wikan
Andrew Wilder
Julie Wilder
N. Anastasia Wiley
Lloyd Williams and Dale Lloyd
Patricia A. Williams
Ed and Susan Willis
Richard Wilson
Ronald Wilson
Amber Winkel
Candace Winkler and Matthew Kropke
Lucas and Uli Wito
John and Tina Witteveen
Laurie Wolf
Abbie Wolfe
Elizabeth Wolfe and Philip Reeves
Jerry and Glorianne Wollen
Hilary Wood and Matt Lichtenstein
Ruth Wood and John Strasenburgh
Susan Wood
Vera Woods
Elizabeth and Vinton Woodyard
Tim and Kristina Woolston
Christopher and Erin Wright
Frank and Ann Yadon
Jean Yang
Ms. Kathleen Yarr
Georgiann T. Young
Your Space Counseling LLC
Yukon Tender, Inc
Meg Zaletel
Kendra Zamzow
Brandi Zeman
Beate and Eric Zinck
Braxton Zink
Jack Zink
Thank You
At the Alaska Community Foundation, our mission is to transform gifts from Alaskans into extraordinary contributions for our state’s future.
It is only through the generous support of donors like you that ACF is able to achieve this mission and cultivate, celebrate, and sustain all forms of philanthropy to strengthen Alaska’s communities forever. Thank you for your support and commitment to making a lasting impact in Alaska. Together, we are building communities that thrive.
