A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Fullerton College to meet with the college’s foundation leadership and also attend the college’s athletic hall of fame event. It was another opportunity to learn about the great work being done at colleges throughout the system, and a chance to revisit a part of my past as well. Read More »

Today thousands of college students – preliminary estimates exceed 10,000 - from throughout California will arrive at the steps of the State Capitol building to have their voices heard.

One of the nation’s most well-known philanthropic foundations is funding a precedent-setting study to identify and capitalize upon alternative revenue streams for our colleges, and the results of this unprecedented statewide study will yield data and intelligence that will be vital in our continued efforts to seek external, private support for our system. Read More »

The Foundation for California Community Colleges recently closed out the 2008-09 fiscal year, and I’m happy to report that we did so with zero debt and approximately $1 million in operating capital, a testament both to the cost-saving measures we implemented over the first half of this calendar year and the cash management strategies that we have employed. However, this was a very difficult year that saw challenges from the start due to last summer’s state budget stalemate, a shrinking economy, and mid-year budget cuts. Read More »

While the Foundation has many valuable programs that serve the California’s Community College Students, the TANF-CDC program is truly the heart and soul of what we do. Read More »

It’s been fascinating to watch the explosion of social networking the past couple of years and to think about what this might mean for non-profit organizations large and small that are looking for ways to reach out to the constituents they serve, prospective donors, the media, and other groups. Read More »

This seems to be a season of loss. We face daily headlines about the loss of jobs, the plummeting economy, major retail chains going under, financial institutions in crisis, housing values declining. It’s hard to look at the newspaper without feeling some sense of loss. Sometimes that loss takes on a very personal nature. Sometimes it’s the loss of a friend that makes you take pause to reflect and remember.

As we conclude 2008 and look ahead to 2009, the Foundation is supporting our service-oriented programs in new and improved ways, growing a much-needed resource development arm, and bolstering our business development capabilities with the aim of diversifying our funding sources for more stability. As we weather the storm of the current economic crisis, and we continue to evaluate and make sound business adjustments to our various programs and services, we are laying a strong foundation for the future – a future that, despite these difficult economic times, is much more promising today than it was a year ago.

Giving to educational organizations reached $43.32 billion in 2007, according to the GivingUSA Foundation, yet fundraising efforts in California’s community colleges are still in their infancy. As we have seen with the challenges posed to our colleges by this year’s state budget mess, community colleges must rely upon more than public funding to meet the needs of their students, programs, and facilities.

Quite often, I sit in the Foundation’s Sacramento office reviewing spreadsheets and reports that are supposed to tell the story of how our programs are operating and the impact they are having. Every now and then, I’m lucky enough to get to see our work firsthand, and to be reminded of exactly why we do what we do, why the Foundation for California Community Colleges exists, and how we impact those we serve.