Rose Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Endowment Cohort (NEC) recently kicked off its fifth cycle. The cohort program gives professionals and volunteer leaders of local nonprofit organizations training and incentives to integrate endowment building and legacy giving into their development work.

The NEC meets over eight months, and Rose Community Foundation’s philanthropic services team supports the group and facilitates all meetings. As part of the program, participating organizations draft a plan that incorporates endowment building and planned giving into their existing development efforts.  The goal is that by the end of the program, organizations have launched an endowment fund and created and implemented a plan that includes the solicitation, marketing and stewardship of endowment and legacy gifts.

“We are thrilled and honored to be participating in this year’s cohort,” said Emily Griffith Foundation President and CEO Tatiana Hernandez. “By building these sustaining gifts, we hope to ensure Emily Griffith Foundation continues to grow to meet the needs of Coloradans for years to come. Rose Community Foundation provides us with the training necessary to take the next step in endowment building and demonstrates a trust in our stability as an organization.”

After the positive experiences of past cohorts, and in response to increased interest in endowment building from the nonprofit community, the Foundation expanded the program for 2019-2020. Two simultaneous cohort classes launched this September, with a third cohort class set to begin in January 2020. Members of the September cohorts include:

• Anchor Center for Blind Children
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado
• Clinica Family Health
• Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition
• Emily Griffith Foundation, Inc.
• Jefferson County Library Foundation
• Parent Possible
• Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN)
• Women’s Bean Project
• Work Options for Women

Rose Community Foundation itself is an example of a thriving endowment fund. The Foundation was founded with $170 million 24 years ago from the sale of Rose Medical Center. Since 1995, the Foundation has distributed $293 million in grants to the community, and today has assets under management of over $300 million including more than $48 million in endowment and designated funds for nonprofits.

“I led a nonprofit prior to joining Rose Community Foundation, so I know firsthand the challenges of raising funds to meet annual operational and programmatic needs,” said Foundation President and CEO Lindy Eichenbaum Lent. “As such, I applaud the self-discipline and future orientation of organizations that take on the added commitment to build their endowments for long-term sustainability, and we are proud to be a partner in their endeavors.”

Rose Community Foundation uses grantmaking, donor engagement, and community leadership to create positive systemic change in the Greater Denver community. Organizations that successfully complete the cohort program are eligible for up to $10,000 from the Foundation to be contributed into the organization’s endowment fund.

To learn more about the Nonprofit Endowment Cohort, and to apply for a future class, please contact Anita Wesley at 303.398.7433 or awesley@rcfdenver.org.