Strategic Initiatives

The economic crisis requires that we reengineer the way we approach funding and solving long standing public issues. Entrepreneurs are innovative and determined individuals driven to solve complex problems. The Community Foundation of Utah began by asking: "What if we could engage entrepreneurs to address Utah's complex social problems? How can we provide philanthropists and nonprofit organizations the strategic resources they need to create sustainable positive change?"

Unlike every other state in the nation, Utah has never benefited from a vibrant community foundation. We believe that now is the time to engage a new generation's resources in support of our state. We trust that by working together, Utah's social and business entrepreneurs can have a tremendous impact on our community and we are already seeing the benefits of our innovative approach.

The Community Foundation of Utah is a forum for Utah's social and for profit entrepreneurs to take calculated risks, gain new networks, and drive innovation – together.

• We sponsor the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the nation's first. In 2009 Matt Minkevitch was honored for his work to redefine Salt Lake's approach to homelessness.
  We created an annual speed mentoring event where leaders from the state's most dynamic companies work one-on- one with nonprofits seeking insights on how to respond to community needs in challenging economic times. Read More
• In 2010 we are launching Utah's first Social Innovation Challenge to deeply engage teams of mentors in 'surgical strikes' on problems common to nonprofits such as cash flow, marketing to a new generation and revenue generation and sustainability. Each team will present the result of their analysis and implementation in a public forum so that all may learn from these scalable solutions.
• Our Enlightened Entrepreneur Network provides early stage companies a leveraged opportunity to engage in philanthropy through gifts of options, warrants or shares and participation community involvement and networking programs.

Our original research and public education efforts are a catalyst for social innovation and smart philanthropy.

• Our quarterly economic studies measure the impact of the recession on the state's charitable organizations and their clients. We conducted the state's first analysis of giving patterns of private foundations, and are developing a feasibility study to create the state's first Social Innovation Incubator space.
• This web site publishes the latest national research in the areas of philanthropy, nonprofit best practice, social entrepreneurship and the work of other community foundations each week.
• We work in collaboration with the state's academic institutions, associations, local government and foundations to encourage a fundamental shift in innovation, entrepreneurship and revenue generation in the state's nonprofit sector.

We help individuals, corporations and nonprofits build endowments.

• In our first year, our donors have established funds valued at more than $1 million.To encourage their creation, the foundation will establish agency endowments without charging fees.
• We serve as a fiscal sponsor for programs that serve the common good or meet an emergency need.

 

Board Chair Greg Warnock with 2009 Ernst& Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year Matt Minkevitch and foundation Executive Director Fraser Nelson