I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about social media lately. That's because I’ve been asked to talk to my peers at other foundations across the country about the topic. I figured I better get really smart about social media really fast! I want to share some insights and resources that I gathered through my research.

Social media – like blogs, social networking sites, online photo and video sharing, and more – can provide interesting ways to communicate and build relationships with people who donate to your nonprofit. Tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySapce, Flickr and YouTube can be no cost or low-cost ways to market fundraising events, visually show or demonstrate the needs of your nonprofit, conduct surveys and become a better-informed member of your community.

In order to make social media work for your nonprofit, you need to develop a communication plan. Idealware has developed a “Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide” to assist you in building this plan. The decision guide helps you decide with media tools are likely to be most effective for your nonprofit based on your goals, audiences and staff time. Click here to download the free decision guide.

There is also training available to help you develop a social media plan for your nonprofit. One organization provides training on a variety of issues that have to do with community organizing, including using social media. Log onto www.neworganizing.com to learn more.

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In 2009, the Community Foundation began working with the Berks County Intermediate Unit on an initiative to encourage local schools to become more interested in Asian culture and languages. Together, we sponsored a mini-conference to introduce Asia and the impact it has on the U.S economy and why knowing more about that part of the world would potentially benefit local students as they enter the global economy.

At the same time, BCIU worked with the Confuscious Institute at the University of Pittsburgh to bring two teachers to Berks County schools to teach Mandarin Chinese. Then, a few months later, the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced that it was running a nine-day trip to China for its members. The Community Foundation worked with the Chamber and BCIU to send five Berks County school superintendents and the BCIU leadership on the trip.

During the trip, the educational contingent met with leaders from the Confuscious Institute in China. As a result of that meeting and other groundwork that had been laid, the Confuscious Institute has agreed to send six teachers to Berks County in 2010-2011 to teach Mandarin Chinese. The instruction will be available to any Berks County school that is interested through online learning. In other words, a student in Kutztown could potentially sit in on a Mandarin Chinese class being held at Wilson. It's pretty cool.

The Confuscious Institute has expressed interest in beginning an exchange program next summer for Berks County students. Up to 35 local students may have the opportunity to spend three weeks in China with a Chinese host family. I'll share more information as it becomes available, but this could be a very exciting opportunity.

We're also hoping to expand the relationship to include an exchange of teachers, allowing Berks County teachers to spend some time in China, too.

The Chinese teachers who work in the U.S. are having an interesting time. Berks County is not the only community hosting teachers. The New York Times did a great report that discusses the opportunities and challenges these teachers face.

Tags: china mandarin teaching education

If you run a nonprofit organization, government agency, or school district that owns its own bricks-and-mortar, you're probably concerned about rising energy costs. 

To help nonprofit building owners, late last year, the Community Foundation made an equity investment from its Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund in an organization called ECap. ECap has a network of specialists - energy engineers, financing experts, and architectural designers - who go into a nonprofit building and dissect its energy use to develop a plan for more efficient operation. ECap then works with the nonprofit to develop a package of grants and loans to finance improvements that will ultimately save on energy costs.

So far, the team from ECap has evaluated the Medical Arts Building near 5th and Walnut streets in Reading and the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts. ECap will take a look at the Reading Public Library soon.

If you are interested in having ECap evaluate your building, call me at 610.685.2223. The foundation's equity investment enables us to offer ECap's upfront energy evaluation work to local nonprofits, government agencies and school districts free of charge.

Rick Mappin
Vice President for Grantmaking

Tags: electricity | energy use | energy audit

The past 15 years have been full of excitement and great work at the Community Foundation. Here are a few of the highlights:

June 1994
Berks County Community Foundation is founded with the help of a grant from the private Wyomissing Foundation and hires its first executive director, Kevin K. Murphy.

1995
The Community Foundation receives its first bequest from the estate of Benjamin Franklin and uses it to create The Ben Franklin Trust Fund

1996
Provided funding and helped to publicize the Pierce Report, which provided a 10-year community forecast for Berks County

1997
Farmland preservation work begins with a grant to bring together agencies and businesses involved in how Berks County land is used. The work ultimately leads to the preservation of 200,000 acres of farmland.

1998

• VF Corporation establishes a fund to provide grants for the next 10 years to the local nonprofit organizations the company had long supported before a decision to relocate its headquarters.
• The Community Foundation tops $10 million in charitable assets under management

1999

• The Youth Advisory Committee is created to teach high school students about philanthropy. Every year since, the committee has studied issues affecting local youth and distributed $15,000 in grants to address them.
• Environmentalist Jane Goodall speaks at Albright College to benefit the Jim Brett Global Conservation Fund

2000
The Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund is established with more than $5 million, taking its place as the Community Foundation’s largest donation to date. The fund distributes grants and loans for renewable energy education and projects.

2001

• Community Foundation establishes September 11^th Fund on Sept. 11^th to collect local contributions in response to the disaster. Grants from the fund ultimately offset the costs incurred by local agencies called in to respond to the World Trade Center site.
• The Community Foundation tops $25 million in charitable assets under management

2002

• Bill McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle, sheds light on the need for new thinking about building, manufacturing and recycling when he speaks at the foundation’s annual meeting.
• The Door Opener Society is formed to honor professional advisors who share the value of philanthropy with their clients.

2003
The Community General Hospital Healthcare Fund is established from the remains of the hospital’s foundation. Grants from the fund study important policy and community initiatives aimed at improving the health of local residents.

2004

• Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, speaks at the foundation’s annual meeting to bring new ideas about economic development to the community.
• The Community Foundation releases the first-ever comprehensive health survey of Berks County residents thanks to a grant from the Community General Hospital Healthcare Fund

2005
The Community Foundation releases the Initiative for a Competitive Greater Reading Report after an all-inclusive 18-month study of the economic prospects for Berks County.

2006
The Franklin Society is formed to thank those who have included the Community Foundation in their estate plan.

2007
The Community Foundation tops $40 million in charitable assets under management

2008
The Community Foundation provides funding to reinstitute the Reading Police K9 Unit with the stipulation that it provide countywide service.

2009

• The Hawley and Myrtle Quier Fund is established through a bequest made by the late chair of Reading Eagle Company, Myrtle B. Quier. The multi-million dollar fund will provide grants for a variety of local causes in perpetuity.
• The Community Foundation moves into its new headquarters, which is the city’s first LEED-certified green building. The building features a community conference center that is open to nonprofits and civic groups for meetings. More than 1,000 people tour the facility in the first six months of operation.
• The Community Foundation’s cumulative grants and scholarships top $25 million distributed for the benefit of Berks County.

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