Involvement
In 2009 Community First Foundation awarded $3.3 million in grants.
Grants are made through the Foundation’s Nonprofit Preservation Initiative which, from a grant-making perspective, is comprised of the Endowment Challenge Grant Program, GivingFirst.org, the Strengthening Partners Grants Program, and the management of various types of charitable funds on behalf of our nonprofit partners.
The Foundation also makes grants from Donor Advised Funds and the Foundation’s family of discretionary and restricted funds. Last, the Foundation makes grants to Exempla Lutheran Medical Center through its oversight of a family of funds designated for use at that organization.
Nonprofit Preservation Initiative
Endowment Challenge Grant Program
The following nonprofit organizations received matching grants totaling nearly $315,000 through participating in one of the Foundation’s Endowment Challenge Grant programs, to help ensure their long-term financial viability:
ALS Association Rocky Mountain Chapter
Boulder History Museum
Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
Boys Hope Girls Hope of Colorado
Children's Outreach Project
Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE)
Colorado Children's Chorale
Colorado Humanities
Colorado Preservation
Denver Street School
Hotel de Paris Museum
Jewish Family Service of Colorado
Junior Achievement - Rocky Mountain, Inc.
Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center
Lutheran Family Services of Colorado
Mountain Area Land Trust
NAMI Colorado
ONE Freedom
OpenWorld Learning
Platte Valley Medical Center Foundation
Project WISE
Rocky Mountain Parents as Teachers
Seniors' Resource Center
YMCA of Metropolitan Denver, Susan M. Duncan Family Branch
2009 Strengthening Partners Grants
The Foundation awarded grants totaling $115,000 to the following nonprofit organizations. These grants enabled the organizations to obtain consulting services for executive leadership development to strengthen core organizational systems:
Aurora Mental Health Center
Butterfly Pavilion & Insect Center
Children's Outreach Project
Clinica Tepeyac
Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE)
Colorado Cancer Research Program
The Conflict Center
CWEE: The Center for Work Education and Employment
District 50 Education Foundation
Doctors Care
Family Tree
Hotel de Paris Museum
Jeffco Action Center
Jefferson Center for Mental Health
Junior Achievement - Rocky Mountain, Inc.
Life Quality Institute
NAMI Colorado
ONE Freedom
Platte Valley Medical Center Foundation
Project Angel Heart
Rocky Mountain MS Center
Stepping Stones to a Jewish Me
Teen Challenge of the Rocky Mountains
The Wildlife Experience
GivingFirst.org
In 2009 the Foundation processed 5,604 gifts totaling approximately $1.1 million. These gifts were designated to 223 nonprofit organizations. In addition, the Foundation paid over $31,000 in bank and credit card processing fees so that 100% of all gifts made through GivingFirst.org went directly to the participating organizations.
Nonprofit Funds
The Foundation manages nearly 100 endowed and non-endowed funds on behalf of our nonprofit partners. In 2009 the Foundation distributed grants totaling nearly $1.2 million from this series of funds. These grants were comprised of requested distributions, investment returns, and interest earnings. The following organizations received grants in 2009:
The Adoption Exchange
ALS Association Rocky Mountain Chapter
Blue Sky Bridge
Boulder History Museum
Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
Boys Hope Girls Hope of Colorado
Butterfly Pavilion & Insect Center
CWEE: The Center for Work Education and Employment
Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE)
Colorado Cancer Research Program
Colorado CASA
Colorado Children's Chorale
The Colorado Council on Economic Education
Colorado Homeless Families
Colorado Humanities
Colorado Law Enforcement Officers' Association
Colorado Nonprofit Association
Colorado Preservation
The Denver Center for Crime Victims
Denver Street School
DenverWorks
Doctors Care
El Centro Su Teatro
Family Tree
The GLBT Community Center of Colorado
Girl Scouts of Colorado
The Greatest Generations Foundation
The Greenway Foundation
Hotel de Paris Museum
Jeffco Action Center
Jefferson Center for Mental Health
Jefferson County Library Foundation
The Jefferson Foundation
Jewish Family Service of Colorado
Junior Achievement - Rocky Mountain, Inc.
Life Quality Institute
Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center
Lutheran Family Services of Colorado
Metro Community Provider Network
Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT)
National Kidney Foundation of Colorado, Montana and Wyoming
ONE Freedom
Open Media Foundation
OpenWorld Learning
Platte Valley Medical Center Foundation
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic – Rocky Mountain Unit
REDI Corporation
Renee’s Friends Fund
Rocky Mountain MS Center
StreetSchool Network
Tennyson Center for Children at Colorado Christian Home
Uplift Internationale
Visiting Nurse Association
Wheat Ridge Rotary Club Foundation
The Wildlife Experience
YMCA of Metropolitan Denver, Susan M. Duncan Family Branch
Selected Community Grants
The Foundation maintains funds to which donors have contributed over time to address specific areas of interest and need in the community. In 2009, the following community grants were made to worthy organizations, including:
Business Health Forum
$5,000 to provide educational forums at the Aurora and West Chambers of Commerce on
issues related to health care reform and its impact on consumers and employers.
Denver Office of Drug strategy
$14,000 to support implementation of a strategic plan developed by the Denver Drug Strategy Commission (DDSC) to address substance abuse education, prevention, intervention, treatment, and evaluation in the metropolitan Denver area.
Jefferson County Public Health
$9,000 to support the Women’s Health Colposcopy Program, which provides cervical cancer screenings for women who are at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
Lasley Elementary School
$4,690 from the Laptops for Learning Fund to purchase laptop computers equipped with special dual language software for classrooms at Lasley Elementary School. The Laptops for Learning Fund was created by the 2009 class of Leadership Jefferson County.
Rocky Mountain Bone Marrow Transplant Program Patient Assistance Fund
$24,143 to provide financial assistance grants to 32 patients at the Rocky Mountain Bone and Marrow Transplant Program to help pay for housing, transportation, and other non-medical related expenses.
Seniors’ Resource Center
$18,389 to support the Care Navigator Demonstration Project. This program assists older
adult patients at Wheat Ridge Internal Medicine in accessing non-medical, community-based services.
Young Americans Center for Financial Education
$11,354 to support a curriculum devoted to educating students about philanthropy at Young AmeriTowne at Belmar.
YMCA of Metropolitan Denver
$5,000 in support of the 2009 Strong Kids Campaign.
The following nonprofit organizations, associations, and charitable groups also received financial support in 2009:
Bonfils Blood Center Foundation
Bugles Across America
Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) Colorado Foundation
Colorado Thunderbirds AAA Hockey Association
Colorado Youth Hockey Foundation
Exempla Lutheran Medical Center
Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation
GrantMakers in Aging
Grant Managers Network
Helping Hearts & Hands
Jefferson County Good News Coalition
The Jefferson Foundation
Junior League of Denver Foundation
The Kempe Foundation
Metro Community Provider Network
Mile High United Way
Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives
YMCA of Metropolitan Denver
Donor Advised Fund Grants
Donor Advised Funds are created by individuals, families and businesses to support charities and causes they care about. The following is a selection of grants the Foundation made from Donor Advised Funds in 2009:
Lois & John Cochran Oncology Fund ($1,000)
To provide an educational scholarship to a staff member in the Oncology team at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center
Collier Family Fund ($14,695)
Red Rocks Community College Foundation
Community First Foundation Board of Directors Fund ($3,000)
CASA of Jefferson & Gilpin Counties
Colorado Open Lands
Haven's Hope
Jeffco Action Center
The Mankind Project of Colorado
Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT)
QuietWaters Ministries
Starfish One by One
Fox Family Fund ($5,915)
Family Support Services of West Hawaii
Haggstrom Family Donor Advised Fund ($500)
Governor's Residence Preservation Fund
Harris Family Donor Advised Fund ($2,033)
Dominican Sisters Home Health Agency of Denver
Hope House of Colorado
Metro Community Provider Network
Seeking Common Ground
Women's Bean Project
Leach Family Donor Advised Fund ($44,160)
The Argyle Foundation
Red Rocks Community College Foundation
Morrissey Family Fund ($3,000)
Arvada Community Food Bank
Jeffco Action Center
Metro CareRing
Spalding Community Foundation Family of Funds ($164,002)
American Heart Association
Assistance League of Denver
Brain Injury Association of Colorado
Colorado Neurological Institute
Easter Seals Colorado
Easter Seals Colorado - Colorado AgrAbility Project
Limb Preservation Foundation
Spalding Volunteer Association
Storatz Family Donor Advised Fund ($9,250)
Denver Rescue Mission
Missions Ministries
Rangeview Community Church
Tuthill Family Fund ($2,500)
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
Grants to Exempla Lutheran Medical Center
The Foundation made grants from the following Exempla Lutheran Medical Center family of funds in 2009:
Cancer Services Fund ($8,399)
To support the National Cancer Survivors Day event and staff education.
Cardiovascular Fund ($38,920)
To purchase a Skytron-Hercules operating table.
Emergency/Trauma Fund ($5,730)
For staff and community education programs.
Hospice Dragonfly Program Fund ($3,864)
Operating support for the Dragonfly Program at the Collier Hospice Center.
Lutheran Medical Center Area of Greatest Need Fund ($2,840)
For staff and community education programs.
Primary Care/Occupational Health Fund ($595)
For staff and community education programs.
Women’s Care Fund ($2,600)
For staff and community education programs.
