Community Foundation holds inaugural State of the Community Foundation

HUNTSVILLE — In the inaugural State of the Community Foundation, successes of last year and plans for this year were highlighted.

One of the highlights was a personal experience saluting the success of the Compass Society, which is one of the nearly 800 nonprofit organizations to receive a grant from the Foundation.

Mark Russell, executive director of the Huntsville Sports Commission and a heart attack survivor, shared his story of how the Compass Society grants save lives.

In 2017, Russell was working as a referee in a high school football game when he collapsed from a heart attack and lost consciousness.

“Had there not been a nurse and defibrillator within a few feet of me when I had my heart attack in 2017, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” Russell said. “That’s why this grant from the Compass Society to increase the access of defibrillators in our community matters, not only for our community’s residents but also for our guests.”

Held Tuesday at the Jackson Center, the State of the Community Foundation attracted local elected officials, executives, donors, and other foundation stakeholders.

During the program, leaders from the foundation took center stage, sharing stories of philanthropy that resulted in gifts from 766 donors who invested more than $23.7 million in 2024.

As the leading organization on strategic philanthropy in the area, the foundation mobilizes generosity in the North Alabama region.brings innovation to its philanthropy, including its “Now and Later” Funds that provide current-year grantmaking while endowing future support. Each now and later fund provided an update at the event.

The Compass Society announced grants totaling $100,000 for 2024, including United Way of Madison County’s Ride United program and Huntsville Hospital Foundation’s Rescue Ready Project.

Give256 donors granted over $16,000 in grants to the Downtown Rescue Mission, Kids to Love, and HATCH Huntsville.

The Foundation’s Woman’s Philanthropy Society $100,000 to address health and wellness issues, with $50,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Alabama EmpowHER Program and $50,000 for WellStone Pediatric Emergency Services Children’s Classroom.

The Racial Equity Fund granted $73,250 to seven nonprofit organizations, including Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theater for its partnership with Alabama A&M University to create workforce development opportunities for young black theatre artists.

The Community Foundation’s legacy giving initiatives are designed to give donors options about their impact beyond their lifetime.

Board Chair Lynn Troy highlighted the legacy giving of Jim and Judy Link, who established an endowment which will total more than $6 million when fully funded and will support 10 nonprofit organizations forever.

“The Community Foundation helps donors be generous, however that looks to them, across all eight areas of our community’s quality of life, including arts and culture, basic needs, economic opportunity, education, environment, health and wellness, neighborhoods and community, and recreation,” said Melissa Thompson, CEO/President of the Community Foundation. “We could not do this work without the incredible support of our donors, our partners, and our volunteers.”

Last year sawsignificant growth for the foundation, including relocating offices, expanding staff, launching new impact-oriented site visits, and raising significant funds through successful events such as Toasting with Tallulah.

Thompson shared a look ahead for this year with several new developments on the horizon. The foundation has launched the Digital Inclusion Grant, the seventh cycle of GFiber’s investment in digital inclusion.

Also coming is the return of the Foundation’s popular NAVIGATE Nonprofit Networking Conference on May 6. The 12th annual event will feature Larry Lowe, delivering a keynote on leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to amplify the nonprofit landscape.