Gulf Coast Community Foundation Inc

Programs: Gulf coast community foundation provides leadership on emerging regional issues, partners with nonprofit organizations through grants and other support, and serves as an expert resource to donors and their legal and financial advisors. In its role as a regional leader, gulf coast identifies priority issues through quantitative and qualitative research, and then creates and funds catalytic community initiatives that target those priorities. These initiatives typically involve cross-sector collaboration and leverage additional philanthropic funding from within and beyond our region. Among the initiatives in which gulf coast invested this year are 21st century learning, which infused middle-school language arts and social studies classrooms with interactive technology and new teaching techniques; careeredge, a national-award-winning workforce-development collaborative that funds training to fill regional skill gaps and assist workers in securing career-path jobs; bright ideas on the gulf coast, which engages community members in supporting local entrepreneurs and promoting economic diversification; financial sustainability, through which gulf coast and several nonprofit partners are helping low-income and formerly homeless families build the financial knowledge and assets to become self-sufficient; and invest in incredible, which helps nonprofit organizations in our region strengthen their board governance and operational capacity. Gulf coast partners with nonprofit organizations through responsive grants awarded from endowed funds held in the foundation and by providing technical assistance and other training for nonprofit board and staff members. Through its responsive grantmaking program, gulf coast awarded leveraged grants (over $10,000), community grants ($10,000 and under), and sponsorship grants ($10,000 and under) to support the work of nonprofits in the areas of health and human services, education, civic and economic development, arts and culture, and the environment. Gulf coast also issues grants at the recommendation of donors who establish charitable funds at the foundation in order to support charities and causes locally and around the world. The majority of grants funded by gulf coast this year came from these donor funds. To build endowed philanthropy so that our region can meet future needs, gulf coast serves as a philanthropic advisor and steward of charitable funds established by individual donors, families, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. Gulf coast administers hundreds of funds and assists donors and their legal and financial advisors in planning and executing charitable gifts to benefit the causes and organizations they care about.