KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Kalamazoo’s Foundation of Excellence effort really comes in two parts.
The first is dispersing a $70 million starter grant over the next three years.
The bigger and much tougher part will be creating and funding the foundation itself, which will be designed to take care of the city’s needs after the $70 million runs out.
Rob Collier, the President of the Council of Michigan Foundations, said Kalamazoo will be breaking new ground with the creation of a trust fund to supply a major revenue stream for the city.
He said many Michigan communities are in the same boat, looking for new sources of revenue.
“You would really be taking the lead in many respects with this proposed Foundation for Excellence, and I think it can really set a new bar for private-public partnerships, Collier said, also calling it an “incredible opportunity.”
He said mayors in bigger cities have small foundations to support special programs. Many cities, including Kalamazoo, have foundations that support parks and recreation programs, but Collier said the scope and ambition of this plan is something new.
He presented three specific recommendations to commissioners this week.
The first suggestion is that the city establish a separate foundation which would be responsible for collecting, managing and dispersing the funding, not separate from the city, but as a subsidiary.
He recommends that it be managed by a seven member board with representatives from the community, from city hall and from the donors.
He would have the group affiliate or contract with the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to provide it with the infrastructure that every foundation needs to operate.
He suggests creating a separate foundation with a seven member board that could contract with the Kalamazoo Community Foundation for operational support, to manage what could be a half-billion dollar trust fund.The memorandum of understanding that will be discussed on Monday gives the city until next August to get the Foundation for Excellence organized.
