Staff Report
Laura Menge joined The Greater Cincinnati Foundation three years ago, bringing her impressive experience in philanthropy to put it to work for the Northern Kentucky Fund.
A New England native who found NKY via Boston and Washington, D.C., she has enthusiastically embraced urban living in downtown Covington, has engaged actively in the community — and is making plenty of friends for the Northern Kentucky Fund.
The fund was established in 1998, a special project of then-Forward Quest (subsequently Vision and now Skyward). Founders formed a strategic partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation to established an endowment opportunity to build perpetual community-good funds for Northern Kentucky. The fund was started with a community-wide campaign (proving that every gift matters — and small gifts add up) and with major funds — both general and donor-advised — from local wealth-builders.
Now The Northern Kentucky Fund and its sister NKY endowments, created in partnership with donors, have assets of more than $7 million. Every years an annual distribution of these invested funds is available for GCF’s grant making to support charitable and public service work in the NKY community.
Since its inception, the fund — and GCF — have returned about $11 million to the NKy community.
Q: How did you get into work with philanthropy and specifically the Northern Kentucky Fund?
A: I’ve enjoyed 14 years in philanthropy, and these last three with The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) have been the highlight. I’m a Rhode Islander native who went west for college, then Washington, DC where I worked for a family foundation, then took a Development job at Boston Children’s Hospital.
GCF hired Michele Carey and me in 2012 with a specific focus on our donors, professional advisors, and partnerships in Northern Kentucky. Helping donors effectively invest their charitable resources in the areas for which they are most passionate is the engine of the Foundation’s work.
Q: Explain the history of the fund and how it has grown.
A: The Northern Kentucky Fund was established in 1998 as part of a strategic vision for the region. Community leaders saw the benefit of an endowed fund that would provide ever-lasting support for the sole benefit of Northern Kentucky. They hoped it might philanthropically unite local residents and businesses around their community and create a compelling legacy of charitable investment.
It has done just that. The fund has grown through contributions and market returns, and families and businesses have aligned with it by establishing their own charitable endowments to benefit Northern Kentucky nonprofits. Altogether, these permanent assets – an annual distribution from which GCF makes grants in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties – now exceed $7 million.
Adding the donor-created scholarship funds for Northern Kentucky students and funds that donors have set up to support specific organizations in the Commonwealth brings that asset total to $10 million.
Q: As a “permanent transplant” to the region, how have you settled in and engaged with the community?
I enjoy living in Covington, am delighted by the people I meet and my experiences here — especially with Leadership Northern Kentucky, Legacy, Renaissance Covington and the Historic Licking Riverside Civic Association. I see remarkable opportunities and generosity at every turn.
Working with The Northern Kentucky Fund of GCF gives great insight on that generosity. It’s a privilege and joy to serve at the intersection of philanthropic intention and community results. I love the deep-seated home pride in this region, and how deeply individuals, families, companies, and organizations care about their communities. The Northern Kentucky Fund is a demonstration of how people here invest in their community.
Q: How does the fund work?
A: The Northern Kentucky Fund is a permanent, charitable resource that invests in the health and vitality of communities in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties.
The endowment brings together diverse donors who have the common goal of enhancing the quality of life in Northern Kentucky.
Their current and planned gifts of all sizes and types (cash, stock, real estate, life insurance, etc.) generate earnings that are given back to community in the form of grants. These grants are directed to the nonprofit organizations serving the three counties’ greatest needs.
Grant dollars from The Northern Kentucky Fund leverage and combine with GCF’s other financial resources for an even greater contribution and impact.
A committed group of investment professionals helps ensure that our endowment is protected and grows.
Q: Give some examples of the organizations that benefit from the fund.
A: Grants from The Northern Kentucky Fund have supported Skyward (formerly Vision 2015), the Life Learning Center, Faith Community Pharmacy, and many others.
With leverage from the fund and other pooled resources, GCF invested nearly $550,000 in Northern Kentucky-based organizations in 2014. Among grant recipients in the last three years: Brighton Properties, CASA for Kids of Kenton and Campbell County, the Catalytic Development Funding Corporation of Northern Kentucky, Center for Great Neighborhoods, Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky, Covington Partners, Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative, Northern Kentucky Area Development District, The Point/Arc of Northern Kentucky, Senior Services of Northern Kentucky, Transitions, Inc., and the Welcome House of Northern Kentucky.
Q: Why should a community have a foundation or fund?
A: A community foundation and endowed donor funds create a valuable resource — in perpetuity — to support a community’s quality of life in innumerable ways.
GCF, for example, is the community foundation for an eight-country region, serving four counties in Southwest Ohio, three counties in Northern Kentucky, and one county in Indiana.
Supporting Northern Kentucky is an important part of our work and has been since the Foundation began in 1963. But the creation and growth of a specific endowment that Northern Kentucky leaders rallied for, and that residents have generously supported, shows great vision, solidarity, and belief in that piece of our region.
The endowment reflects a commitment made to Northern Kentucky, ensuring a permanent stream of funding to nonprofits doing strong work there and to the communities about which many donors care most – now and into the future.
Q: How can donors invest with the Northern Kentucky Fund of GCF?
A: Donors who want to center their giving on the neighborhoods where they raised their families or started their businesses, are well served by a community fund.
They may give to The Northern Kentucky Fund, or they may create their own charitable fund to support their favorite causes. Their fund may bear their family name, be created with or passed on to their children, be endowed by their estate, become their philanthropic legacy. We work with their professional advisors to help them give in the most strategic, tax-advantageous way. We build our community resources in partnership with donors’ charitable goals.
The Endow Kentucky Tax Credit has been a boon to our efforts in Northern Kentucky and a great tool for professional advisors. The tax credit was a project of the Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative which worked with the legislature to create it.
Donors who apply for and make a gift to The Northern Kentucky Fund – or any other GCF endowment, including one they may establish, that benefits Kentucky-based organizations – may receive a 20 percent state tax credit for that gift. This is in addition to federal and state deductions. The tax credit has helped GCF raise $2 million in endowed assets for Northern Kentucky.
The Northern Kentucky Fund was intended to support a community and its people in perpetuity, fueling critical work to help the region thrive.
Thanks to the generosity of so many, we are doing just that – together.
Intern Brett Bibbins and Editor Judy Clabes contributed to this report. Contact Laura Menge for information about how you can become involved with the Northern Kentucky Fund, mengel@gcfdn.org