Martha Smither tells POA board how the HSV Community Foundation works

At last week’s POA board retreat Martha Smither, chairperson of the HSV Community Foundation, presented the following information to the board regarding endowments serviced by the foundation and future possible endowments duplicating board budget items for its consideration.
"Thank you very much for allowing the Hot Springs Village Community Foundation to present at your board retreat. I am the chair of the foundation and I am here with Tom Bryant, the vice-chair, and David Vink, the chair of the endowment committee.
I know some of you are very familiar with the organization, but some of you may not be. In any case, here is our membership brochure which gives a great deal of detail. If you’re not members, of course, we’d like you to join.
The purpose of the foundation is to serve the needs of the community as a whole and its residents. We do so by making grants twice a year to worthy projects and programs. Those grants are to organizations, some in the Village and some in Saline and Garland Counties. A listing of the grants made in 2009 is on the enclosure of the membership brochure. Notice that it is for a wide range of organizations. This slide also demonstrates the breadth of interest that is served. These are the actual projects to which funds were granted. In 2009/2010, we will give grants close to $17,000 and expect to grant in our next fiscal year $20,000.
The funds to make these grants come from several sources. In the past we have relied primarily on membership dues and contributions. There are over 500 members of the foundation. In recent years, we have added the dimension of endowments, six years ago we had one endowment with funds of $35,000. Today there are 16 endowments totaling $325,000. The funds in the endowments are managed by the Arkansas Community Foundation better known as ARCF.
The ARCF makes an annual distribution to the HSVCF for grant-making purposes. The ARCF is a state-wide community foundation, but it is not a state-run agency.
Of these funds, eight were initiated by the foundation itself and were initially funded by the Annual Benefit Concert given each March. Some of you may have attended the Lowe Family Benefit Concert this past March.
The remaining eight endowments were initiated by individuals either by a direct donation or by a legacy in their will. Some of these are restricted for a special purpose or organization. Some are unrestricted and their annual distributions are made at the discretion of the HSVCF board for worthy projects and programs.
We are also aware of at least eight major bequests that will add to these endowments from residents who love this community and want to do something meaningful for it long term.
At this point, I am sure you are wondering, what’s my point?
And why am I here?
Because we are dedicated to serving the community, we have many areas of common interest with you. You can see on the listing of endowments that we support areas that are your budgetary responsibility. Because the endowments are just being started, that support is relatively small. We are working to build these endowments so that they can make a significant contribution toward the quality of the amenities.
It is not beyond comprehension to consider that some of the amenities you are funding could become free-standing, self-funded organizations, such as the library and the animal shelter. It is not inconceivable to think that there would be sufficient funds to insure adequate ambulance service in the community without having a monthly assessment to the residents.
We therefore seek your support and partnership in working on areas of common interest.
The HSVCF is a 501(c)(3), a not-for-profit status granted by the Internal Revenue Service. As such, we must serve all the community not just those people within our gated area. Our endowments must serve residents of Saline and Garland Counties so some funds of these endowments may be spent outside the gates. We find this to be positive, however, because we benefit if our surrounding community is healthy and well-served. So, what is happening to grow the endowments?
The Animal Welfare League is helping to grow the Endowment for Animal Welfare by including information in their newsletters. The Friends of the Library has developed a brochure that can be given to their patrons. LifeNet is placing an insert with every billing suggesting that if you liked your ride to the hospital, a gift to the EMS Endowment would be really nice.
The foundation was instrumental in starting up the Arts Council which you’ve just heard from. They have an interest in building the two endowments dedicated to the arts, one of those specifically for projects and programs at the Woodlands. And now we are starting an endowment for disaster relief, it was inspired by and will be initially funded by a resident who served on the Employee Benefit Fund Board for many years. So those are our immediate plans to grow the endowments that serve the community. I’m sure there are many other opportunities.
There are two specific areas where the IRS is less restrictive. It is my understanding that there could be an endowment that could fund Village needs for fire and police protection. If you are interested, we could certainly explore the possibilities with you. We would probably not consider doing so without the full support of the POA board."