Oceanside Community Foundation Awards $92K In Grants For 2022

OCEANSIDE, CA — The Oceanside Community Foundation has been meeting the emerging needs for all who live, work and play in Oceanside since 2007. Despite the positive impact they have on the community, many locals are not familiar with the foundation.

That's because the Oceanside Community Foundation (OCF) primarily works behind the scenes to support local organizations that range from well-known groups like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oceanside to lesser-known causes like the Autism Tree Project Foundation.

On August 30, 2022, the OCF will hold a grants celebration at El Corazon to officially award this year's seven fund recipients.

The Patch sat down with Oceanside Community Foundation board members, Colleen O'Harra, Beverly Holtz, Jennifer Lacy and Amber Newman to get the scoop on this year's grantees and how the foundation raises and distributes funds to support the community.

Patch: Like many locals, I've heard of the Oceanside Community Foundation but I don't know a lot about what you do, can you tell our readers about OCF?

Colleen C. O'Harra: Back in 2007, Tom Noonan and I were approached by the San Diego Foundation about setting up a regional community foundation in Oceanside. We both thought it sounded like an interesting plan as it would have the backing of the San Diego Foundation. They provide all the staff support, they manage the money we raise and pool it with their other philanthropic donations and they have a wonderful track record.

So Tom and I rounded up a bunch of our friends and said we need to get this going and it's grown exponentially over the years. The basic plan for the Foundation is that we don't do any fundraisers. We accept memberships in the foundation of $1,000 per year, and half of that money goes into an endowment fund and half of it goes into current grantmaking.

That was the part of the plan that really interested me because I'm a strong supporter of endowment funds. We put the money in there and just use the interest off of it annually for adding to your grants and it's there in perpetuity.

Although we're affiliated with the San Diego Foundation, all the money that we raise from Oceanside residents stays in Oceanside, and OCF decides how the money is spent. The San Diego Foundation has always been very supportive of all the affiliates.

Patch: Can you give me a rundown on the funds that OCF has raised over the last 14 years?

Jennifer Lacy: The endowment currently has $637,000. And to this date we've granted $754,000. And that does not include what we're granting this year, which is $92,000.

In total, at the end of this year, we will have granted $846,000. And that does not include the endowment. That's only what we have actually granted.

We have 53 current members who each contribute $1000 and that does not include the fund match from a person by the name of Matt McLaughlin who left $10 million to the San Diego Foundation. He specified that he wanted it to benefit North County. So each year the North County affiliates for the last several years have been matched dollar for dollar. That's not for the endowment, but just for the grant-making dollars, which is huge because we're already at $44,000 this year and we haven't finished raising money and that will be matched by the Matt McLaughlin funding.

An important part of our program is how we grant out the money and Beverly is going to go through that because she's been on the grants committee for several years and is the board chair for this year.

Beverly Holtz: In the beginning, we had only seven subjects to pick from for where the money was going. But since those have expired, what the grants committee does is put together a list of the needs of the community and then ask our members to vote on the subjects for that year for granting the money. Then it's posted online so that 501c3 non-profits can apply for one of our grants.

This year for example we got 26 grant applications and after the San Diego Foundation verifies they qualify, then we start the process of vetting each applicant. We meet with them and make sure the money is to go to the program.

Last year we gave out six grants and this year we're giving out seven and it's very specific to what the subject is for the year and it has to benefit Oceanside residents. So it's quite a process. Once we've determined which programs are a fit, then we go out and do site visits and go to each of the nonprofits, we interview them and make sure again that what they're telling us is what is really happening.

Then we get back together and we discuss it and figure out which ones are the best fit for our needs. They can request from $5,000 to $25,000 and depending on how much money we have and how valuable we feel their program is, determines how much they get.

Patch: I understand you've already selected your grantees for this year?

Yes, we typically do that in May and the grant recipients have already gotten the money even though we haven't had our grant celebration, yet. Then they are required to report to us twice in that year on how they're doing and make sure they have done what they said they were going to do.

Each year we have a different theme depending on what the committee and our members feel are the most important needs in our community.

Part of what attracted me to the OCF is it really exposes our members to all the different areas. Over the years themes we've done include the environment, civil engagement, arts and culture. We've done homelessness, food insecurity, seniors, stem programs, tutoring and schools with programs like equestrian with handicapped children. We also help many of the charitable organizations within the community get noticed by people that didn't know about them.

I've been here for over 44 years and literally, there are so many organizations that have been here for that long that I would never have known about if I wasn't for the OCF.

Patch: I noticed on your website that you had your largest increase in giving in the last year, from an average in the $50K-$60K range, and then for 2020-2021, it jumped to 94,000. Was that because of the Matt McLaughlin funding?

OCF: It's actually a couple of things. Number one, we have an additional earnings fund which we can put into grants if we want. We had extra money and we had some members who contributed more than their $1,000. We have couples who both contribute and we have businesses who contribute and they contribute larger numbers.

Patch: Do you do any other types of fundraising or is it all through member contributions?

OCF: A lot of people think that to belong to a foundation you have to have a lot of money. You really don't, it's just $1,000 a year to be a member.

There are also people who don't know which nonprofits to support, but they'd like to make a contribution in some way. They can be part of a group that actually assesses the needs in the community and then works to find nonprofits to address those needs.

Another advantage is you don't have to do anything besides pay the $1000 membership fee if you don't want to be involved in anything else. That's all you have to do. We typically have four socials a year but we don't pressure people to do more. Everyone is encouraged if you want to be on the board. If you want to be on the grants committee membership committee, you can be as active or inactive as you want.

I think that our members rely on the fact that they trust the board. They trust the grants committee. They really are enticed by the fact that we get support through the San Diego Foundation and that we carefully screen all the grant applicants and that all members get to vote on them. I think they're really confident that their money is actually going to support the community.

Patch: I noticed on your website something about Under 40 for $250, what's up with that?

OCF: It's a new program to encourage younger members because the majority of our members are not younger. So to get them interested earlier we reduced the fee.

Patch: This has to be one of the easiest nonprofits I've ever come across. I also understand your upcoming Grants Celebration on August 30 is also open to the public. Can you tell us more about that?

OCF: It's being held this year at El Corazon on Tuesday, August 30th from 5:30-7:30 pm. We hold it at a different location in Oceanside every year to highlight all the great locales in our community.

At the grants ceremony, all the recipients give a short speech and they also get more exposure that helps bring in more donations and volunteers for them just by being one of our recipients.

The OCF 2022 Grantees are:

• Girls on the Run $10,000
• Boys and Girls Club $25,000
• Autism Tree $10,000
• North County Lifeline $15,000
• Oceanside Theater Group $ 5,000
• Interfaith $15,000
• Oceanside Museum of Art $12,000

Anyone who would like more information about Oceanside Community Foundation or is interested in joining is encouraged to attend the grant celebration, which is open to the public and free of charge.