Local philanthropic organizations invest in the future, shaping Bay County

The holidays are over, but the gift-giving season lasts all year for local foundations and nonprofits serving Bay County.

Local foundations pump millions of dollars into the community each year, helping develop early childhood education programs, sending teens (and adults) to college, building community institutions, and more.

Look around town and you’ll see the fingerprints of local foundations on much of what makes this a good place to live.

We have miles of walking trails, thanks to thousands of donors. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library puts books in the hands of kids every month, thanks in part to foundation funding. Museums and parks count on donations to improve. Students land scholarships to help pay for continuing education.

Local foundations provide much of the funding for programs such as the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which puts books in the hands of youngsters every month.Since 1982, one of those local foundations, the Bay Area Community Foundation, has helped connect nonprofits and organizations with funds and donors.

By providing flexible giving tools and aligning the interests and passions of residents, the foundation has driven a tangible impact within the community it serves — through generosity, leadership, and strategic grantmaking.

Founded by Peg Rowley, a familiar name in local philanthropy, the Community Foundation is located in the Pere Marquette Depot at 1000 Adams St. (Read more about Peg and Paul Rowley in this May 2019 Route Bay City article.)

Today, the Foundation manages over 430 individual funds. Each year, it awards more than $650,000 in scholarships to students, and over $1.5 million in grants to local initiatives.

Madi Syring, Program Officer at Bay Area Community Foundation, says the current strategic vision places an emphasis on four priorities: early childhood development, post-high school training and education, sense of place, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Some notable projects they’ve been a part of include the construction of the Riverwalk Railtrail, providing $75,000 to the Dow Bay Area Family YMCA, and providing $100,000 in grants to the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy.

Photo courtesy of Saginaw Bay Land ConservancyGrants from local philanthropic groups helped the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy preserve natural spaces for people to enjoy.“I want to emphasize that our work is only possible through the generosity of our donors and the dedication of our nonprofit partners who serve their missions daily,” Syring says. “Together, we make Bay and Arenac counties united, thriving, and resilient.”

The Community Foundation isn’t solely responsible for this kind of work. Other local foundations include the Kantzler Foundation and the Russell H. and Maxine E. Smith Foundation. 

The Bay Area Community Foundation administers applications in-house for the Smith and Kantzler. Trustees for each foundation set their own grantmaking priorities and recommendations.

Click here to read about the Kantzler Fellowship, one of the Kantzler Foundation programs. 

Jean Manning, Vice President of the Smith Foundation, is a niece of Russell H. and Maxine E. Smith, both Bay City natives and lifelong residents.

“My father, Robert Elliot, and Maxine were brother and sister,” Manning says. “Upon Uncle Russ’ death, we (the family) learned that he and my aunt had set up a foundation that would become active after both of them became deceased.”

Following the death of her aunt in 2000, the Russell H. and Maxine E. Smith Foundation began in 2001. Manning asked to serve on the Foundation as a family member trustee and began meeting with other trustees several times a year to review applications for funding and make contributions to Bay County community organizations.

“Since then, this Foundation has grown both in the number of trustees, the amount of giving to our community, and becoming more well-known,” she says.

Photo courtesy of the Dow Bay Area Family YGrants from local foundations helped the Dow Bay Area Family Y build a fitness facility and child care in the area.Manning remembers receiving lovely gifts from her relatives during Christmas and on her birthday. The couple did not have children of their own, but blessed both their nieces and nephews, and now, the entire community.

“They were community-minded all through the years,” Manning says. “Uncle Russ served at the Masonic Temple, and was Head Potentate of the Shriner Organization. He was also in the Bay City Lions Club, and served on church boards (First Presbyterian Church), and many other boards and groups. Maxine loved to entertain her bridge group, and also served on several community boards — one that comes to mind was the Rachel Sovereign Home.”

Today, the current trustees include Manning as well as Dominic Monastiere, Barbara Engelhardt-Carter, Thomas Tabor Jr., Heather Gallegos, and Matthew Jeffrey. The Foundation works actively with government, civic, service, educational, and philanthropic organizations to provide financial resources to projects that can have a multiplier effect on the community.

Manning says it’s been wonderful to see her family’s legacy live on in the community.

“The Smith Foundation’s list of places and organizations that we have given money to used to fill one page, but now is several pages long,” she says.

One of the Smith Foundation’s best-known programs is the Russell H. and Maxine E. Smith Scholarship for Student Success, which is awarded to second-year students at Saginaw Valley State University. The $1,500 scholarship focuses on first-generation college students.

The Smith scholarship is just one of many that students apply to through a Student Portal on the Bay Area Community Foundation website. Since 1985, the Community Foundation has awarded more than $3 million to more than 4,000 students throughout Bay and Arenac counties.

While many may know the Community Foundation for its scholarships, Syring says its work reaches further than education.

“Our focus when it comes to non-profits is really making sure that we have a strong fabric of non-profits that are sustainable and that will be here to serve the community for a long time,” Syring says. “We really prioritize strategic grantmaking, and work a lot on capacity-building with our nonprofits.”

Not only are monetary donations and dollars important, but volunteering time behind-the-scenes is also crucial to many nonprofits and foundations.

Through the Catchafire platform, the Bay Area Community Foundation links those seeking volunteer opportunities with organizations that are a good fit for their skills and passions. Through Catchafire, nonprofits are able to connect with volunteers locally and nationally, who help on everything from marketing to strategic planning to website building.

Local agencies have used Catchafire volunteers to build websites, create marketing plans, make strategic plans, and more, Syring says. Catchafire is funded by several area organizations including the Bay Area Community Foundation, United Way of Bay County, Midland Area Community Foundation, and Saginaw Community Foundation.

Many of these nonprofits don’t have the staff or time to focus on every aspect of running an organization, and having access to a portal of volunteers ready to roll up their sleeves makes a difference, says Syring.

“We really serve as a connector,” she says. “We also connect philanthropic donors with different causes and give nonprofits a platform for their voice to be heard.”

The Community Foundation’s major fundraising campaign, Give Local Bay, is a 24-hour online campaign held the first Tuesday in May. During Give Local Bay, donations are matched and distributed to local nonprofits, agencies, and parks in Bay and Arenac counties.

The 2024 campaign saw a record-breaking $185,798 from 615 donors that went directly toward community nonprofits. Some of the organizations that received the top donations include Camp Fish Tales, Ye Olde Courthouse/Arenac County Historical Society, Bay City Rowing Club, Trombley House Endowment Fund, and the Bay Community Tennis Association.

Being responsible to the community’s voices on what they need has led the Foundation to adapt and shift over the years in how they serve and connect.

“We’ve really seen a pivot towards more unrestricted funding when it comes to grantmaking,” Syring says. “Just a few years back, we held the Garnett and Elmie Compeau Challenge. We had a lot of new, unrestricted funds that were started out of that. That funding really gives us the ability to meet those changing community needs as they arise, or participate in different opportunities.”

According to Syring, those community needs are vast and diverse. The Foundation provides funding to different areas including the arts and education, scholarship programs, environmental-related preservation or water quality, health and human services, recreation, and different initiatives throughout the region.

She hopes the Bay Area Community Foundation continues to provide more funding opportunities to impactful entities and initiatives in the future.