On February 12, 2010, we will celebrate the second anniversary of the official “launch” of the Haile/US Bank Foundation. It has been an extraordinary year. Like many of our colleagues, we were faced with a sharp decline in assets which caused us to tighten both our expenses and our giving budget. At the same time, we saw record increases in unemployment, record increases of those who are receiving assistance, and record cuts in federal, state, county, and local funding for agencies who are assisting our most vulnerable citizens. Collaboration and leverage have never been more important to funders during these challenging times.
We were pleased to participate in a community funding collaborative entitled “Weathering the Economic Storm” led by our friends at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and United Way of Cincinnati, along with over 20 family, corporate, and private funders. The initiative quickly raised over $2 million dollars for “fast-track” distribution to some of the most critical nonprofits providing food, shelter, and services for children and seniors. This collaborative continues to bring community funders to the table and is the foundation for a long-term model of dialogue for us to collectively stay in tune with the needs of the community and to educate ourselves on trends impacting the world of philanthropy. Plans are well underway for a 2010 collaborative. While we are optimistic about the positive indicators in our financial markets, we also know that 2010 will continue to be one of serious need for our community.
2009 was also an extraordinary year of achievement for the Haile/US Bank Foundation.
Our investment in the Arts and Cultural Partnership is supporting valuable research on public views and assumptions about arts and culture. We are confident that this knowledge will support a broad campaign to educate our communities on the benefits, both in quality of life and economic, that a vibrant arts community will provide. Cincinnati is the only community that has undertaken this task and the preliminary research has already attracted national attention. We are also equally proud of our support of the Fine Arts Fund for its work related to community arts centers, and muti-cultural organizations in the areas of capacity building, shared services, development, and audience growth.
Our Community Development work is making an impact on developing regional talent, distinctive neighborhoods, and a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. We continue to support and challenge our regional initiatives such as Vision 2015, Agenda 360, and the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. A growing number of innovative projects such as InOneweekend, IgniteCincinnati.org, CincinnatiInnovates, and UrbanNexus Cincinnati demonstrate the depth of talent and imagination in our community. We leverage new media such as SoapboxMedia.com to tell a new narrative of growth and investment, and we underwrite a cluster of Cincinnati leaders to participate in CEOs for Cities to keep all of us on the vanguard of urban-focused solutions.
In education, we continued our significant support of Northern Kentucky University, in addition to our support of our partners at Crayons 2 Computers. We also provided funding for a wide variety of arts education programs. We will continue to grow our partnership with Strive, a cross-sector partnership focused on student success in the urban core of the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky region. Strive has also garnered national attention and with the support of Living Cities, a consortium of national funders, is replicating the model in several communities across the country.
In 2009, the foundation provided support to human service organizations in excess of $950,000, of which $220,000 granted through our on-line process, we will continue this focus in 2010. It is still the only initiative where we accept grant applications.
Our US Bank Legacy initiative serves to honor the history and partnership that Carol and Ralph had with U.S.Bank. We made significant investments with the YWCA and the Women’s Crisis Center in 2009, and will be expanding our focus in the field of family services in 2010.
The foundation matched new and increased United Way contributions of U.S. Bank employees who reside in our ten county funding areas. This matched raised over $380,000 for the United Way of Cincinnati 2009 campaign. We salute the generosity of the U.S. Bank employees who stepped up to this action in a particularly challenging year.
The work of this foundation will always serve to honor the areas that Carol and Ralph were passionate about. I am incredibly proud of our accomplishments and incredibly proud of my talented team and board members who make this work happen.
Thank you for visiting our website.
Sincerely,
Tim Maloney