Doing Today, Determining Tomorrow - Golden Belt Community Foundation Improves Local Quality of Life Now and in the Future

When Bob Dema explains the value of the Golden Belt Community Foundation (GBCF), it could involve a game of connect the dots. As chief executive officer of CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Dema has a clear vision of what the picture will look like if all the lines are drawn correctly: it will depict a thriving community with a quality of life that enhances the personal and professional lives of Barton County residents.

That quality of life can be achieved if the community supports the GBCF, Dema said. Charitable donations to the GBCF mean that tax dollars can stay at home to support local efforts to help people in all walks of life. “It is a way to improve things, and I like to improve things,” Dema commented. “Why should a business get involved in the foundation? It’s very straightforward; it’s simple. Any business should focus on customers. If you are doing something that doesn’t build value for customers, you shouldn’t be doing it.

“One piece of that value is the customer service you offer,” he continued. “There is a direct relation between how you treat your employees and how employees treat customers. It’s a very simple equation.”

When the employees’ environment is improved, there is less stress and they are happier at the job and at home, Dema said. This translates into solid job performance and builds value for the customer. Voila, quality-of-life dots connected.

Building Foundations – The Golden Belt Community Foundation is located in downtown Great Bend at 1307 Williams. “There are so many ways that the Community Foundation ties in with the Great Bend Chamber,” director Christy Tustin says. “One of the most literal examples of this is the fact that we are housed in the building they used to occupy.” When the Chamber moved to the Sunflower Center at 1125 Williams a few years ago, the Golden Belt Community Foundation quickly took over the occupancy at the old building. “We still get confused visitors who walk in and ask if we are the Chamber,” Tustin says. “We don’t mind, and usually just send them over a block to the Sunflower Center.”

The GBCF offers a wide avenue to an enhanced quality of life. Established in 1996, it provides non-profit organizations in Barton, Pawnee, Rush and Stafford counties with a permanent source of support and serves as a vehicle for charitable giving.
Dema and his wife, Carol, along with CPI are founding members of the foundation.

“The concept is so relevant,” Dema said. “It doesn’t matter what tax bracket you’re in. Why not keep some of your taxes here at home by making a charitable contribution instead of sending it to Washington, D.C.? If 30 to 40 percent goes to Uncle Sam, it is gone; it could stay right here.

“There is enough wealth in this community,” Dema added. “If we could just get more of it to stay here, we can be a top-tier community, not only within the state but the nation. It doesn’t take that much to be better than the pack.”
Dema noted that it is disheartening to see wealth leaving the area, especially when retirees move away. “They retire and leave,” Dema said. “I hate to see that.”

Small but Mighty –Golden Belt Community Foundation staff members pose for a photo under the customer window in their office. “We chose to adorn the customer window with our organization’s motto,” says Director Christy Tustin. “It drives everything we do, so it’s only appropriate that our clients and generous supporters be reminded of that each time they visit us.” Pictured from left to right are Administrative Assistant and Scholarship coordinator Susan Miller, Director Christy Tustin, and Program Officer Kristy Rupe. “One of the many connections the GBCF has with the Chamber of Commerce is our program officer Kristy Rupe,” Tustin says. “We share Kristy with the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development in a partnership, so that she can work as their Economic Development Projects Assistant. It’s a win-win situation.”

The GBCF channels donors’ money to the charities of their choice. It could include projects that encourage college grads to move back home, new residents to choose Great Bend and retirees to stay put – and everything in between, Dema said. “There’s no reason why you can’t be superior in all those areas,” he added.

When CUNA Mutual Group recently acquired CPI, the CPI Great Bend and Barton County Corporate Donor Advised Fund was established with a $200,000 gift from the CUNA Mutual Group Foundation. The GBCF manages this fund and CPI employees help decide what quality-of-life projects it supports.

Christy Tustin, GBCF executive director, recalled when Dema and other community leaders banded together to get the ball rolling. “We had local individuals who saw a need to give locally,” Tustin said, noting they wanted to support non-profit agencies and do something for the greater good of the community. “Nothing existed here to do that.

“We adopted a slogan: ‘what we do today determines tomorrow,’” Tustin noted. “It really sums up what we’re about.”

The Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) was instrumental in getting the GBCF up and running in 2000. Its goal was to expand philanthropic giving throughout Kansas.

Caring Contributors – The donor wall at the Golden Belt Community Foundation Office displays the portraits of the many generous contributors who helped get the foundation started. “We gave the community a one-time opportunity to contribute to the foundation when we were getting started,” Director Christy Tustin says. “Since then other generous contributors have helped launch new programs, but we always remember the generous support of our founding donors.”

“The KHF posed a challenge to get donors for community foundations,” Tustin said. “We had 37 founding donors. Now we are at $5.6 million in total assets and manage 90 endowment funds. Within the next year, we will go over the one-million-dollar mark in grants to charitable agencies.

“The beauty of endowment funds,” Tustin added, “is they can support whatever cause the donor chooses in perpetuity; it will last forever. We spend a portion of the earnings, while investing the principal. That’s how we have built up to $5.6 million.”
Marcia Westhoff, GBCF president and co-chair of the board of directors, complemented the KHF’s foresight.

“They wanted a growing, sustainable Kansas,” Westhoff commented. “If we keep the money at home and give back what our communities have given us, we will accomplish that. And with endowment funds, donors can sustain their dream forever.”
If Tustin and Westhoff could stress one thing, it would be the GBCF’s flexibility. Donors choose what type of fund they want. (see sidebar.)

“When I meet with someone interested in helping a favorite charity,” Tustin explained, “I ask what is their goal and then find out how they can reach it. I take their ideas and come back with a solution.”

Westhoff added that many people want to do something for a good cause but don’t know how. “They don’t realize there is an instrument right here to do that.”

Generous Givers – CPI Qualified Plan Consultant’s CEO Bob Dema meets with HR Director Erika Brining and CFO Renee Dykes to decide on some of the parameters for the donor fund they have established for CPI employees. “The idea behind this fund is to make sure that CPI employees remain community-minded now and in the future,” Dema says. “When CPI was purchased by CUNA, we expressed that necessity to them and they were happy to continue CPI’s tradition of community support.”

Donor Advised Funds, such as CPI’s, are a great option for people who want to be actively involved in making charitable decisions, Tustin said, indicating it is the most popular choice and a way for families to encourage future generations to get involved.

“You can support agencies but you don’t have to write the checks,” Tustin said. “Donations come out of the advised funds. For example, if you have $500 and want $100 a year to go to five different charities, we will take care of it for you. The donation is still in your name.

“We also handle memorials,” Tustin said. “It is a good choice to name the GBCF as a memorial because it gives the family time to think about a specific charity. The family might want more time to make a thoughtful decision.”

In addition, the GBCF offers free estate planning through Stewardship Counseling’s John Griffin of Hesston. Griffin helps formulate plans, which participants then take to their own attorneys and financial advisors.

Estate Expert – Estate planning expert John Griffin with Stewardship Counseling, LLC shows a GBCF client the different options for planning their estate. The Golden Belt Community Foundation shares Griffin with several other foundations in the area, including Sunflower Diversified Services and the CKMC Foundation. “Estate planning is a great way to make sure the money you leave behind can make a difference in the future,” Director Christy Tustin says. “Lots of generous individuals choose to include the Community Foundation in their wills, which helps them improve the community’s quality of life, even after they’re gone.” Griffin provides his services to the Great Bend area one day each month, free of charge. Griffin helps clients evaluate their estate plan, so that they can hire their own attorney to draft their will or trust.

While cash may be the most obvious donation, the foundation also accepts stock, grain, real estate, livestock and collectibles; it can also be the beneficiary on life insurance policies.

The other GBCF employees are Kristy Rupe, program officer, and Susan Miller, administrative assistant and scholarship coordinator. The GBCF is a member of the Council on Foundations and the Kansas Association of Community Foundations.

The GBCF recently applied for the KHF’s GROW II program and will learn in December if the application is successful. The program is designed to help community foundations build resources to improve the health of local residents and support collaboration among community foundations.

“We just want the community to know we are here for everyone,” Tustin said. “You don’t have to have $10,000 to work with us; that is not what we are about. It can be a gift of any size.”

 

Foundation Favorites

Chairman's Corner - Community Foundation co-chairs Marcia Westhoff and Suzan Haynes look over the Community Foundation's scrapbook and reminisce about all the progress they've made over the years. "It is a joy to serve on the Community Foundation Board," says Westhooff. "It is such a tangible way to make a difference in the lives of others and in the community."

The Golden Belt Community Foundation offers a variety of options for donating to central Kansas charities. Those options include:

Donor Advised Fund: This is a good choice if you want to be directly involved in your charitable giving.

Unrestricted Fund: You essentially ask the GBCF staff to direct your gift to where they think it will do the most good.

Designated Fund: This allows you to identify specific non-profit organizations as grant beneficiaries.

Scholarship Fund: You may specify the criteria for the scholarship.

Field of Interest Fund: You focus your giving by indicating a field of interest such as the arts, education or health.

Golden Belt Community Improvement Fund: This supports immediate needs as identified by the GBCF.