It’s the holiday season and that makes me think of the busyness of year-end giving, but it’s also when we pause to thank our many partners who work with us to care for our community.

To recap, 2017 was a remarkable year for the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation. We linked arms with the grassroots committee that worked to raise community dollars to Save the Catwalk, we broke ground on the Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium and look forward to the ribbon-cutting next year, and we are launching one of the most comprehensive initiatives ever in our county to address our lack of affordable housing.

All of the work that we do is a result of being well supported by our community — thank you!

As I think about where we have been and where we are going as a community foundation, I want to share a simple but profound thought that I recently heard. Our sector has always been identified as the “nonprofit” sector.  The two others are the private (business) and public (government) sectors.  Why are we the only sector that identifies itself by what we are not? True, we are not profit seeking, but well-functioning, high performing nonprofits absolutely need to have a positive balance sheet. No money, no mission, right? The difference is that we invest our profits in our missions and communities, not owners or shareholders.

So to kick off the new year, I am challenging myself to start talking less about being a NON profit and more about being a FOR impact community organization. #goals.  

The end of the year also means that a new year is on the horizon and it’s time for us to plan for new strategies and initiatives in 2018.

In January, the Board and Team will take a day for our annual planning retreat. We will never stop looking for ways to make our community better for all. It takes a village, and a city, as well as townships, for-impact organizations (nonprofits), schools, churches, and more for that matter, to care for our ever-changing communities. Everything we do is done with partnerships and collaborations. We are grateful for our many community relationships and we are always looking for news ones.

We are planning and working hard to ensure that we are ready to respond to the needs of our community. In order for us to do that, we need your continued support. A gift to our Greatest Needs Fund is the most flexible gift that you can give. When you support that Fund, you are investing in your community, for impact, today and forever. Please consider a gift and go to ghacf.org/donate.

Thank you and Happy Holidays! We are here For good. For all. For impact. For ever!