National Standards has recognized that The Erie Community Foundation:

• Holds accountability and transparency core to our values;
• Is committed to community dialogue, donor disclosure and public scrutiny.
• Ensures that our local operations are aligned with nationally recognized effective practices.
• Our objective guidelines-created by and for the community foundation field-govern our operations.
• Our gift administration is approached with due diligence and responsiveness to changing community needs.
• And that we understand that our community deserves the greatest impact in every area: education, arts, environment, community, development, health, and human services.

“We have met the most rigorous standards in philanthropy, our grant making includes an open, competitive process designed to address our communities changing needs and we have a history of honoring donors wished,” said Foundation President Mike Batchelor. "The Erie Community Foundation is excited that the work we do for the Erie community has been recognized on a national level. With National Standards recognition we will continue to shape a better tomorrow for the Erie community by helping today."

Erie’s Future Fund was created in 2011, an outgrowth of Erie Community Foundation’s Early Childhood Advisory Panel in partnership with United Way of Erie County, Success By 6, members of the Early Learning Investment Commission (ELIC) and Erie Together. Leaders from corporate, nonprofit and civic sectors sought to address growing concerns about lack of school readiness among many children entering kindergarten, and the significant impact it was having now and would have in the future on Erie County’s economy and quality of life. Erie’s Future Fund goal is provide scholarships for approximately 285 low-income children in 2012-2013 school year.

The scholarships allow children to attend a high-quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) program at ages 3 and 4.Early Childhood research shows that well-focused early childhood education investments can produce high public returns, particularly for children living in families with low income levels. Erie’s Future Fund will provide scholarships to low-income families in neighborhoods with the highest percentage of families with children under 5 living in poverty.

Erie’s Future Fund through Success BY 6 and its task forces that target areas of health, children’s mental health, education, special needs, and prevention of abuse and neglect, promotes parents involvement beginning prenatally. Families are provided guidance on selecting an ECE program, skills, and knowledge necessary to promote school readiness throughout their child’s early years, and information about health, child development, community resources to support their family’s needs.

*Make your reservation by calling 814-454-0843 or via email by clicking here.

2011 Helping Today Pre-K-12 Grants

1. Arts Erie-Literacy Collaborative Program $24,497
2. Bayfront Maritime Center-Maritime Simulator expansion $17,903
3. Burton Elementary School-Classroom Technology Upgrades $15,000
4. Erie Playhouse-Educational Attainment Collaborative $14,600
5. Erie Regional Chamber & Growth Partnership-Aligning school to careers $35,680
6. Erie School District-Violence Reduction Collaborative $30,000
7. Junior Achievement of Erie Region-Youth financial literacy $15,000
8. Multicultural Community Resource Center-Keystone Star Daycare Dev. $15,000
9. NW Tri-County Educational Foundation, Inc.-Early childhood Dev. $12,500
10. The Young People’s Chorus of Erie-Music education collaborative $10,198
11.YMCA-Relational aggressions collaborative $9,500

2011 Helping Today Brain-Gain Grant

1. Erie Technology Incubator Inc.-Entrepreneur Education Outreach $30,000

Total: Pre-K-12 $199,878
Brain-Gain $30,000
Total: $229,878

*To learn more, join us on February 16th beginning at 4 p.m. at the Ambassador Hotel and Conference Center. Make your reservation by calling 814-454-0843 or via email by clicking here.

The scholarships allow children to attend a high-quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) program at ages 3 and 4.Early Childhood research shows that well-focused early childhood education investments can produce high public returns, particularly for children living in families with low income levels. Erie’s Future Fund will provide scholarships to low-income families in neighborhoods with the highest percentage of families with children under 5 living in poverty.

Erie’s Future Fund through Success BY 6 and its task forces that target areas of health, children’s mental health, education, special needs, and prevention of abuse and neglect, promotes parents involvement beginning prenatally. Families are provided guidance on selecting an ECE program, skills, and knowledge necessary to promote school readiness throughout their child’s early years, and information about health, child development, community resources to support their family’s needs.

Barbara Sambroak, vice president of Finance at The Erie Community Foundation, was asked to present at the National Conference for Community Foundations in San Francisco this past fall. The conference is hosted every year by the Council on Foundations and is devoted to expanding attendee’s skills and knowledge needed to strengthen their foundation. Sambroak spoke about her experiences and lessons learned in receiving and accounting for federal grant dollars such as the $1M ReTool Erie grant. Sambroak also accepted election to the position of Vice Chair, Professional Development for FAOG, The Fiscal and Administrative Officers Group, a national association of community foundation financial and administrative staff members.

Kevin Moore, vice president of Stewardship and Regional Affiliate Foundations at The Erie Community Foundation, was appointed to national steering committee for Adnet, which is a national organization of Advancement Officers and Donor Relations professionals from community foundations throughout the United States. The AdNet Steering Committee reviews policy and procedures for community foundations, provides training and guidance for its members as well as host a national conference each year to showcase best practices in community foundation development work. Moore will co-chair the 2012 national conference to be held in New Orleans, LA later this year.

By the common consensus of the Vital Signs partners, the top 12 cross cutting issues are:
# brain gain-educational attainment
# crime rates
# arts & culture revenue
# Erie CountyPSSA results
# poverty rates
# early childhood risk factors
# obesity rates
# percentage of children and adults with no health insurance
# teen pregnancy rates
# early childhood education participation
# unemployment, and
# visitor and tourism impact

According to Anne Sekula, Vice President of Programs, understanding these 12 issues is important. “These are major issues that are interconnected and need to be tackled simultaneously,” said Sekula. Sekula believes these issues go hand-in-hand. “Erie County Pennsylvania common good forecaster shows that as education goes up crime goes down,” said Sekula. Erie Vital Signs is devoted to identifying and tackling these community issues.

Erie Vital Signs monitors community progress in eight major topical areas. The project helps maintain focus on key community issues. Objective data has clearly demonstrated the areas of community pride and the areas we are falling short. Major programs areas are:
# Brain Gain-Educational Attainment
# Community & Civic Engagement
# Cultural Vitality, Environment
# Health
# The Economy
# Pre K-12 Education, and
# Regionalism

Within each of these programs, a variety of key indicators are present. The Erie Community Foundation grant seekers demonstrate how their projects impact the key indicators in the community. The “What Works” and “Inspiring Action” portion of The Erie Vital Signs website identify promising pilot projects and best practices that are being adapted to Erie County. You can see more by clicking here.

To learn more about Erie Vital Signs you can attend the Subcommittee Training Session. The training session will advise on the chosen indicators and research being presented, monitor and suggest analysis for trends over time, suggest common themes and key issues that need to be addressed suggest best practice, and contribute data to be shared through Vital Signs. The conference will be held at the Ambassador Conference Center on January 24, 2012 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. It will be a great opportunity to learn about how you can become a part of this project.

New grantmaking includes TWO distinct competitive grantmaking processes responding to immediate needs via an online application and responding to more complex issues via a Letter of Intent process. Erie Vital Signs, a community wide key indicator project, will still be a screen for projects.

To learn more, click here.

Through the PIF Fund, grants to pay down student loan principal will be made on behalf of award winners to
their lending institutions. To be eligible for aPIF award, individuals must be recent college graduates who have
earned a Bachelor’s degree, are committed to living and working in northwest Pennsylvania and have plans to
“pay it forward” through future philanthropy, acts of kindness or community service.

Mary Bula, vice president of the ERCGP’s Growth Partnership Division says, “Thanks to the generosity of one
local family who got the ball rolling, and additional donors who continue to add to the fund, we have a
tremendous opportunity to reward talented individuals for their commitment to our region and its future
success. The Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership is honored to be part of this very worthwhile
initiative.”

The late Charles McDaniel contemplated the idea of the PIF Fund a few years ago after witnessing first-hand the
effects of brain drain and escalating student loan debt with his own children, nieces and nephews. At about the
same time, the Erie Daily Times issued a challenge to citizens, awarding a $1,000 stipend to the person(s) who
developed a great idea for “giving back” to the community. Although Mr. McDaniel did not win the contest the
challenge inspired the formation of thePIF Fund.

Eighteen individuals, carrying an average student loan debt of roughly $30,000, applied for the 2011 award. To
be eligible for the award, applicants must:
• Have a student loan of $500 or greater.
• Have completed a Bachelor’s degree or higher.
• Live and work in northwest PA (Erie, Crawford and/or Warren counties).
• Have completed his/her Bachelor’s degree within the past five years.

This year’s winners were chosen based outstanding essays reflecting their plans to give back to our region.
Applications are currently being accepted for next year’s awards, which will be announced in late 2012.

Interested applicants and donors may click here more information. You can also send an email by clicking here.

If you are interested in helping teachers who want to improve reading and math in their classrooms, then Donors Choose might be of great interest to you.

For an introduction to Donorschoose.org click here.

The Erie Community Foundation partnered with DonorsChoose.org for a “Double Your Impact” program in order to help teachers raise money for exciting classroom projects. Donors Choose is simple: teachers post their projects, you decide if you want to make an online gift of any amount to the project and once the project is half funded, The Erie Community Foundation covers the rest.

You can see the school projects on the website www.DonorsChoose.org and make a donation. Through the “Double Your Impact” program, your donation will be matched. The Erie Community Foundation will fund 50% of a project with a total cost of $1000 or less. In fact, anyone across the country can make a donation to Erie County school projects.

Here you can view a report on what donors are saying about Donorschoose.org.

The Foundation partnered with Donors Choose because funding has been cut dramatically, and some of our children are not proficient in math and reading, which are two subjects essential to success. By supporting school projects, we can move the needle of one of the key indicators of our community which can be seen at www.ErieVitalSigns.org.

Please log on to www.DonorsChoose.org to make your donation today! Our children really are our future.