Involvement
Community First Foundation granted $1.9 million to the community in 2007. Recipients include the following:
Nonprofit Preservation Initiative
The Foundation created the Nonprofit Preservation Initiative in 2004 to help preserve the long-term future of charitable organizations. The initiative is comprised of a variety of programs and services, such as Endowment Challenge Grants, a Web-based giving tool called GivingFirst, and our nonprofit partner programs and services. In 2007, we awarded the following grants as part of the initiative:
Endowment Challenge Grants
These grants were designed to help nonprofit organizations in the metropolitan Denver area strengthen their long-term financial stability through endowment building. Matching grants and disbursements in the amount of $273,271 were made to the following nonprofits:
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
Boulder History Museum
CWEE: The Center for Work Education and Employment
Colorado Cancer Research Program
Colorado Council on Economic Education
The Conflict Center
DenverWorks
Hotel de Paris Museum
Jefferson Center for Mental Health
Jefferson County Library Foundation
The Jefferson Foundation
Jewish Family Service of Colorado
Lutheran Family Services of Colorado
REDI Corporation
Rocky Mountain MS Center
Tennyson Center for Children at Colorado
Christian Home
Wheat Ridge Rotary Foundation
GivingFirst
GivingFirst is an online giving tool that facilitates online philanthropy by featuring in-depth profiles of metropolitan Denver nonprofits. The Foundation processed $680,565 worth of donations through the site for 133 organizations and awarded matching grants totaling $100,000.
Community Grants
The Foundation has developed relationships in the metropolitan Denver area to keep us intimately aware of the issues facing our community. The Foundation supported the following nonprofit organizations who share our goal of strengthening the health and well-being of the community for a total of $549,492.
The Chinese American Council of Colorado ($5,000)
Healthcare education and screenings for the Chinese American community
Exempla Lutheran Medical Center
Cancer Services ($1,453)
Staff education
Cochran Oncology Fund ($1,000)
Staff education
Collier Hospice Center ($202,053)
Collier Hospice Center Capital Campaign
Dragonfly program
Hand sculpture program
Colorado Lutheran Home ($60,409)
Facility improvements and upgrades
Pain therapy program
Playground project
Residents’ entertainment
Exempla Volunteers ($143,768)
Family Birth Center
Gift Shop
Infant Literacy
Infusion Center
Junior volunteers
Pet therapy
Southwest Urgent Care Center
Humanitarian Support ($18,112)
Grants and interest-free loans for hospital employees facing financial crisis
West Pines Training Center ($29,600)
Clinician education
Learning Beyond the Experience program
Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment ($10,000)
Colposcopy program and Women’s Cancer Control Initiative
STRIDE ($12,148)
Mortgage Assistance Loans program
Wheat Ridge 2020 ($5,000)
Board development
YMCA of Metropolitan Denver ($15,000)
Janet’s Camp
Strong Kids Campaign
Young Americans Center, Belmar Campus ($12,268)
Philanthropy Matching Grant Program
Youth Philanthropy Program
The following charitable groups and organizations received small community grants to support programs for a combined total of $33,681.
Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)
Arvada Community Food Bank
CWEE: The Center for Work Education and Employment
Collier Hospice Center
Colorado Association of School Boards
Colorado Business Hall of Fame
Colorado Nonprofit Association
Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable
Community Resource Center
The Denver Hospice
Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center
Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital
Family Tree, Inc.
Girl Scouts of Colorado
Good News Breakfast Coalition
Holy Family Catholic Church
Jeffco Action Center
The Jefferson Foundation
Metro Community Provider Network
National Philanthropy Day
Public Education and Business Coalition
Seniors’ Resource Center
Seniors Support Services
The West Chamber Foundation
Uplift Internationale
Grants from Donor Designated Funds
Donor Designated Funds are established by charitable groups or nonprofit organizations to support their mission. A total of $458,646 in grants was made from the following funds at Community First Foundation.
Fund names are in bold followed by grant purpose
The Bone Marrow Transplant Fund ($7,554)
Benefits Concepts
Mortgage, rent and utility assistance for transplant patients
Saint Christopher House
Hotel de Paris Museum Endowment Fund ($84,882)
Operating expenses
The Jefferson Foundation Operating Fund ($285,000)
Operating expenses
Mountain Area Land Trust Unrestricted Fund ($65,000)
Operating expenses
Renee’s Friends Fund ($7,423)
Mortgage, rent, transportation and utility assistance for breast cancer patients
Rocky Mountain BMT Patient Fund ($8,787)
Brent Eley Foundation
Mortgage, rent and utility assistance for transplant patients
Saint Christopher House
Grants from Donor Advised Funds
Donor Advised Funds are established by donors who receive immediate tax benefits, earn investment revenue, and recommend grants to charitable organizations. A total of $53,319 in grants was made from the following funds at Community First Foundation.
Fund names are in bold followed by grant recipient names.
Collier Family Fund ($15,627)
Red Rocks Community College
Fox Family Fund ($6,442)
Ashland Community & Technical College
Texas A & M University
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Janet A. Fania Fund ($1,000)
Blessed Sacrament School
Leach Family Fund ($25,000)
The Argyle Foundation
Collier Hospice Center Capital Campaign
Storatz Family Trust Fund ($5,250)
Colorado Christian University
Lost and Found Inc.
