Presentation by Jeff Yost to the North Country Symposium – April 2009

1. Using Rural Development Philanthropy to Build and Sustain Nebraska’s Hometowns Presentation by Jeff Yost to the North Country Symposium – April 2009

2. Outline for Today’s Presentation • About Nebraska • Unique Opportunities/Transfer of Wealth • About NCF • Community-Based Endowment Building • Endowment for What? • HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC)

3. About Nebraska • Nebraska’s strengths • Civic capacity and hometown pride • Educational system • Work ethic • Nebraska’s challenges • Out-migration of middle-class youth • Lack of diversity in rural economy • Large geography/many frontier counties

5. Special Challenge Engaging rural leaders in defining new opportunities for their communities to build a positive self-fulfilling prophecy and stem the tide of out-migration

6. A Unique Opportunity Set for Rural Revitalization • Information Technology: Today we can live and work wherever we want • Youth optimism about their hometown • Transfer of wealth

7. Youth Surveys Surveys completed by 6,059 teens in 40 rural Nebraska communities (7th to 12th graders) • 86% state they plan to attend college • 51% picture themselves living in their hometown area in the future (if career opportunities are available)

8. Youth Surveys • 45% interested in taking an entrepreneurship class • 41% interested in owning their own business someday • Only 12% say their hometown is “too small”

9. Intergenerational Transfer of WealthAn Unprecedented Opportunity for Nebraska “Millionaires in the Millennium”Havens & Schervish, 1999, Boston College“Wealth in Nebraska”Nebraska Community Foundation, 2002

11. County-Based Transfer of Wealth Peak of Transfer Group 1 – 2000 to 2014 Group 2 – 2015 to 2039 Group 3 – 2040 and after

12. Transfer of Wealth: A Unique Opportunity • To build philanthropy and endowments • To prove that capital is not the limiting resource to community development • Achieve sustainability (by using Asset Based Community Development) • To break out of a cycle of dependency

13. The Nebraska Community Foundation:Incorporated in 1993 Statewide Board of 19/Staff of 13 200 Affiliated Funds MissionThe Nebraska Community Foundation partners with community leaders to inspire charitable giving, prudent management of financial resources and strategic investments for the prosperity of our people and our communities. 3

15. NCF Philosophy • Local control • Reciprocity • All NCF services must add-value • Empower local leaders • Build endowments to support core mission • Convene & build partnerships • We’re farmers; not hunters • Belief in power of Hometown

16. NCF Balances Community Needs and Donors’ Wishes Community Donors

17. Community & Nonprofit Fundraising What’s been successful? • Events • Annual Operating Campaigns • Capital Campaigns What’s been lacking? • Endowments • Endowments for community economic development

18. NCF Partners with Communities and Nonprofits to Build Endowments • Board Engagement • Goal Setting & Action Plan Development • Build Skills & Confidence to Engage Donors • Communications & Marketing • Financial & Investment Management • Gift Planning

20. NCF System Seeks to Engage Everyone Number of Contributions per Fiscal Year December 2008 • 1,233 gifts to 101 affiliated funds totaling $3.7 million • 279 gifts from first time donors • 291 gifts of $500+

21. NCF Summary • 1,800 Affiliated Fund Leaders • Total Assets = $53 million • 147 planned gifts to benefit 99 communities totaling $30 million • 33,083 contributions in last 5 years • $41 million reinvested in Nebraska in last 5 years

22. Impact of NCF’s Grassroots SystemCommunity-Based Affiliated Funds • 88 funds building endowments (in 57 counties) • $16 million endowed (93% growth in 2 years) • 119 expectancies for 52 funds estimated to total $22 million (27 new in 2 years) • 48 funds have at least $100,000 in endowments and expectancies (Five years ago, only 16 did)

23. Endowment for What? Strategic Grantmaking Now that you have an endowment,what difference is that going to make in the future of your hometown? These new assets must be invested in ways to build a better future for your hometown!

24. Examples of Strategic Grants • Non-Traditional Scholarships • High-quality affordable child care • Microenterprise business development • Build Leadership with a Purpose • Retaining and recruiting volunteers • Value-added curriculum for K-12 school • Engage Youth

25. HomeTown Competitiveness Framework for Effectiveand Sustainable RuralCommunity and EconomicDevelopment

26. HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC) helps Communities to: • Start and Grow Small Businesses • Provide Better Employment Opportunities • Build More and More Diverse Leadership • Provide a Better Reason for Young People to Live and Work in their Hometown • Provide a Better Case to Donors

27. Heartland Center for Leadership Development HTC Strategic Partnership Partner Communities

28. Nucleus of HTC Communities

29. HTC as a Case Statement HTC helps Communities to: • Start and Grow Small Businesses • Provide Better Local Economic Opportunities • Expand Leadership Capacity • Attract More Young People to Live and Work in their Hometown HTC is a Better Case to Prospective Donors

30. Andy and Geri Anderson Endowed Gift of $567,000to the McCook Community Foundation First year grants for: • McCook HTC Youth Task Force • Entrepreneurship training for teachers • 4-H ESI Entrepreneurship curriculum • Youth-led community project “To us it is important to give while we are still alive. We want to see the benefits our gift makes to the community.” - Andy Anderson

31. HTC Success Story:Holt County, Nebraska Stuart Atkinson

32. HTC Success Story:Holt County, Nebraska Stuart Atkinson O’Neill

33. HTC Success Story:Holt County, Nebraska Stuart Atkinson Emmet O’Neill Inman Page Ewing Amelia Chambers

34. HTC Success Story:Holt County, Nebraska Spencer Stuart Atkinson Emmet O’Neill Inman Page Ewing Amelia Chambers

35. HTC Success Story:Valley County, Nebraska • Economic development staff of three • 104 new/expanded businesses have created 332 new full time jobs and $90+ million new investment • 102 graduates of leadership class • 67 $1,000+ founders of HTC endowment • $5.7 million endowment and expectancies

36. HTC Success Story:Valley County, Nebraska • Retail sales +20% (statewide avg. +16%) • Per capita income +22% (statewide avg. 9%) • Population gain of 3%(first increase in 50 years)

37. NCF & HTC Help Communities Spiral Up Sustainability • Philanthropy for ongoing funds for leadership, youth, and entrepreneurship • Cultural capital increases with pride and hope as young people return • Youth engagement, leadership and entrepreneurship development and capturing wealth transfer creates new social, cultural and financial capital. • Social, political and financial capital to support HTC and early assessment • Cultural capital begins to change—We can do it! • Bridging social capital brings outside expertise together with internal wisdom Phase 3 SPIRALING UP Phase 2 Phase 1

38. One of the things that makes HTC successful is that it throws out the ‘expert’ model and says ‘we’re learners together within the context of local wisdom.’ Mary Emery, Associate Director North Central Regional Center for Rural Development HTC Evaluation, 2007

39. What Others Are Saying About NCF Susan Berresford, Retired President of the Ford Foundation calls NCF a ‘strong, unique and national model’ because it: • is built and sustained from the grassroots; • values and nurtures entrepreneurial leadership; • emphasizes effectiveness, especially in grant making, to support economic opportunity; • embraces and seeks to strengthen Nebraska values.

40. And most importantly! We’re not giving our kids luggage for graduation anymore! Maureen Wenke, Pender