The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country is a nonprofit, community corporation created by and for the people of the Texas Hill Country. We are here to help our donors do good work…Forever. The foundation was established in 1982 for the benefit of Kerr County. In 2000 the Community Foundation expanded its geographic reach to serve a larger Hill Country area including Fredericksburg, Comfort, Medina, Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt, and Center Point.

A community foundation has three distinct features and it is the combination of these features that provide unique opportunities for donors and our community. The first feature is a permanent endowment. Permanent endowment means the foundation invests and protects donor's gifts, distributes earnings via grants, builds permanent community capital to meet the needs of future generations, and creates legacies for donors. In this way each donor's gifts works within our community today and tomorrow.

The second distinct feature is its broad and flexible purpose. The Community Foundation monitors all areas of community needs in the Hill Country today and tomorrow including arts, education, youth, seniors, community services, health care, and rehabilitation needs. The foundation's knowledge of the community is one of the greatest services we can provide our donors. We can help our donor's maximize the impact of their gifts in our community.

The third distinct feature of a community foundation is personalized giving. To help our donors have the greatest flexibility, the Community Foundation accepts a variety of gifts including cash, stocks, property, and bequests. In addition donors have the opportunity to be involved in establishing a fund in their name or the name of a loved one. Donors can give what they want, how they want, when they want…and receive maximum tax advantages.

The first community foundation established in Texas was in 1929 - the Dallas Foundation. Today there are 25 community foundations in the state of Texas that collectively hold more than $1.1 billion in endowed funds. These foundations distribute in excess of $82 million annually in local grants and are a part of the fastest growing field in philanthropy today with more than 650 community foundations operating across the United States.

We invite you to join the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country…your community foundation…in providing a platform for building our community…For good. For ever.^SM
 

A Busy and Exciting Year So Far in 2007

2007 has been nonstop action with the Community Foundation!  We started out with the Annual Board Meeting and Trustee Reception in January. 

In March we held our Annual Fund Holder Reception at the beautiful home of Bryant and Brenda Williams. 

The Hermann Sons Hilltop Camp outside of Comfort Texas was the sight for the well attended Hill Country Nonprofit Summit VII held April 3-4.   The Summit was hosted with our partners Bank of the Hills, Chase Bank, Trust Financial Services of Security State Bank & Trust, Bank of America, Ameriprise Financial Services, Joseph Financial Partners.  The event provided a variety of workshops relating to the management of nonprofits. 

The next event was the Spring Luncheon on May 17^th held in Fredericksburg at the Hangar Hotel and Conference Center to highlight The Good Samaritan Center.  The event was hosted with our partner Broadway Bank.

 May was also a busy month for the Community Foundation with the distribution of scholarship awards from the various scholarship funds held at the Community Foundation.  The awards are personally given to the recipients during the various awards programs at the designated high schools in the four county hill country region that we serve. 

 October 23 was the Fall Luncheon held in Kerrville at the Cailloux Student Center at Schreiner University highlighting The Museum of Western Art.  The event was hosted with our partner Trust Financial Services of Security State Bank & Trust.

 We are also continuing our preparation for the bi-annual Snow Ball black tie gala which will be held on January 26, 2008.  The gala will be held in Fredericksburg at the Hangar Hotel and Conference Center.

 As you can see, we have been engaged in a variety of activities that positively impact our communities this year. 

 The Board of Trustees and staff are looking forward to working with all our partners for the remainder of 2007 to continue to make a positive impact on our communities.