A Message for You
We meet wonderful new friends almost daily thanks to that part of the Foundation's mission which is to help charitable Rhode Islanders establish their legacies.
And what good friends to have! You are invariably generous, devoted and/or grateful to one or more nonprofit institutions in your community, committed to social issues, dedicated to your high schools or colleges, and involved in neighborhood activities. You are men and women, young and old, and wealthy and with modest assets.
Even though you may not always think so, you are also optimistic for the future. Creating a permanent endowment represents a certain faith that society can sustain the best of what exists, from protecting the world's natural resources to preserving Rhode Island's small-town congeniality, while at the same time meeting both longstanding and unknown challenges, from hunger to terrorism.
Your relationship with the Foundation may have started in a lawyer's or trust officer's office, or right here at the Foundation. Many of you take advantage of our many gatherings and publications until you're convinced a Foundation endowment will serve you best.
To reach that comfort level, we encourage a measured process free of any time pressure. The permanent relationship we treasure takes plenty of time to gestate and mature. It is nurtured with lots of phone calls, personal visits, social occasions, learning opportunities, hopefully some humor and celebrations, and occasionally sharing some tears and sadness. We never see the connection to our philanthropic partners as a simple financial transaction, nor another notch on our endowment "belt".
The opportunity to know each other wasn't always available. Before 1970, most people saw philanthropy as something they did through bequests, and we were only notified at the time of the benefactor's death. We were never able to say "thank you" in person.
Happily, one of the "newer" developments in the community foundation world (we actually originated it 30 years ago!) is the "donor-advised fund." Increasingly our relationships are with
families who will conduct their philanthropy through us for years, and then will continue with our successors and their children and grandchildren. We enjoyed a 23-year relationship with the very first Rhode Islander to have a donor-advised fund at the Foundation, and with his passing in 1998, we continue the conversation with
his wife. That's life affirming!
Since we're talking about it, there is a painful part of our task.
A proverb attributed to African communities is "When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground." Accepting the wisdom of that thought, Rhode Island lost several cherished "libraries" when friends who exercised their philanthropy through the Foundation passed away in 2001.
Because we have been able to know so many of our donors, the Foundation is able to preserve at least a few of their "library books". Within these pages you will find nearly 700 endowments, from one that dates back to the Foundation's very beginnings in 1916, to another that was established on the 27th day of December, 2001. In 2001, new endowments remember favorite teachers, fathers and sons who died too young, and beloved parents. But last year's new funds also include the names of thriving families and nonprofits now stable enough to plan for the future by establishing endowments.
We record as much as we can about the life of the donor, the family, or the company so that the Foundation can always connect the gift with the giver. If this Yearbook comes to you late, it is because we first spent the beginning months of 2002 researching and writing the stories of all the 51 new endowments created in 2001, just as we have always tried to capture the stories of the 650 or so endowments begun in earlier years.
The Rhode Island Foundation takes the role of "librarian" very seriously, and we believe we do an excellent job. But the best part is to sit with you and hear stories of lives well lived, goals met, successes recorded and your plans for the future.
Thank you for that opportunity.
Norman M. "Sandy" McCulloch
Ronald V. Gallo, Ed.D.
Chairman, Board of Directors President & CEO
