Kern Community Foundation
3300 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 220
Bakersfield, California 93301
United States
Mission
Growing community. Growing philanthropy.
Most Meaningful Change
Through the creation of an online nonprofit database and publication of a charity giving guide, the foundation has raised awareness of the impact of the local nonprofit sector on our community’s quality of life. We have also conducted research to identify the largest untapped source of capital to support the local nonprofit sector-transfer of wealth from estates-and mobilized local leadership to begin to put this transfer of wealth to work. Finally, we have created helpful tools, such as the Kern Real Estate Foundation, that are beginning to generate new sources of capital from previously untapped resources to support local charitable organizations.
1999 Year Founded
5 Paid Staff (Full-Time Equivalent)
$600,000 Endowment Value
$761,913 Total Annual Grantmaking
Organization | Kern Community Foundation |
---|
Address 1 | 3300 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 220 |
---|
Address 2 | Did not answer |
---|
City / Town | Bakersfield |
---|
State / Region | California |
---|
ZIP / Postal Code | 93301 |
---|
Country | United States |
---|
Continent | North America |
---|
Map Address (If Different) | Did not answer |
---|
Map City / Town (If Different) | Did not answer |
---|
Map State / Region (If Different) | Did not answer |
---|
Map Zip / Postal Code (If Different) | Did not answer |
---|
Map Country (If Different) | Did not answer |
---|
Phone | 661.616.2601 |
---|
Email | jeff@kernfoundation.org |
---|
Website | www.kernfoundation.org |
---|
Organization Leader (Name, Title) | Jeffrey R. Pickering, President and CEO |
---|
Primary Contact’s Name | Jeffrey R. Pickering |
---|
Primary Contact’s Position | President & CEO |
---|
Year Founded | 1999 |
---|
Mission Statement | Growing community. Growing philanthropy. |
---|
Organization Description | Community Foundation |
---|
Other Description | Did not answer |
---|
Approximate Size of the Population Serviced | 800,000 |
---|
Total Paid Staff (Full-Time Equivalents) | 5 |
---|
Total Unpaid Staff (Full-Time Equivalents) | Did not answer |
---|
Total Board Members | 19 |
---|
Organization’s Total Income in Last Fiscal Year | $4,118,763 |
---|
Organization’s Gifts Income in Last Fiscal Year | $3,578,153 |
---|
Organization’s Total Expenditures in Last Fiscal Year | $1,587,899 |
---|
Organization’s Grantmaking Budget in Last Fiscal Year | $761,913 |
---|
Does Organization Have an Endowment | Yes |
---|
Value of Endowment (or Financial Reserves) as of the End of Last Fiscal Year | $600,000 |
---|
Change in Financial Status Over Last Three Years | A little improvement |
---|
Factors that Played a Role in the Origins of Your Organization |
---|
Community leadership | Played an important role |
---|
Philanthropic gifts | Played an important role |
---|
Grassroots activism | No role |
---|
Inadequate government services | No role |
---|
Changes in the political environment | No role |
---|
Changes in the economic environment | No role |
---|
Government initiative funding | No role |
---|
Foundation initiative funding | Played a slight role |
---|
Bilateral or multilateral initiative funding | No role |
---|
Favorable legal or fiscal policies | No role |
---|
|
Time Spent Working in Following Areas |
---|
Neighborhood | Very little time |
---|
Locally | Lots of time |
---|
Regionally | Very little time |
---|
Nationally | Very little time |
---|
Internationally | Very little time |
---|
|
Rate Importance of the Following Functions |
---|
Grantmaking | Centrally important |
---|
Having local people as leaders in the organization | Centrally important |
---|
Seeking local donations | Centrally important |
---|
Having a gender balance in the organization | Important but not central |
---|
Board reflective of community diversity | Important but not central |
---|
Building an endowment | Important but not central |
---|
Serving donor needs | Centrally important |
---|
Acting as a fiscal intermediary for the community | Important but not central |
---|
Building inclusion and trust in the community | Important but not central |
---|
Pursuing equity | Slightly important |
---|
Accountability to local people | Slightly important |
---|
Raising money for grantmaking annually | Important but not central |
---|
Community development | Slightly important |
---|
|
In the Last Year, Extent to Which Programming and/or Grantmaking Involved Work in the Following Areas |
---|
Arts and culture | Lot |
---|
Education | Little |
---|
Environment | Little |
---|
Health | Lot |
---|
Human and social services | Lot |
---|
Human rights | Not at all |
---|
International relations | Not at all |
---|
Religion | Little |
---|
Economic development | Little |
---|
Conflict resolution/bridging different parts of the community | Not at all |
---|
Information technology | Little |
---|
Strengthening local or regional government | Not at all |
---|
Housing | Not at all |
---|
Children | Little |
---|
Water | Not at all |
---|
Alternative energy | Not at all |
---|
Disaster relief | Not at all |
---|
Advocacy with authorities | Not at all |
---|
Job training | Not at all |
---|
|
Nongrantmaking Services Offered to Community in Recent Years |
---|
Convening for issues of local concern | Occasionally |
---|
Promote collaboration between grantees | Occasionally |
---|
Promote understanding of public policy | Rarely |
---|
Training/capacity-building for local organizations | Often |
---|
Advocacy | Rarely |
---|
Loaned staff | Never |
---|
Research | Rarely |
---|
Community needs assessment | Occasionally |
---|
Leadership development | Occasionally |
---|
Internships | Occasionally |
---|
Providing space for local organizations | Occasionally |
---|
Access to information technology | Often |
---|
Publishing/knowledge sharing | Occasionally |
---|
|
Main Trends Over the Past Year in Geographic Area Served |
---|
Poverty | Getting worse |
---|
Crime | Getting worse |
---|
Trust among different sections of the community | Getting better |
---|
Equitable distribution of resources and services | Getting better |
---|
Social position of marginalized groups | Getting worse |
---|
Responsiveness of authorities | No change |
---|
Appropriateness of public policies | Did not answer |
---|
Value of community assets | Getting better |
---|
Quality of the environment | Getting worse |
---|
Number of people and organizations working to change and improve their community | Getting better |
---|
Levels of innovation and risk taking in addressing community problems | No change |
---|
Networks and links between different parts of the community | Getting better |
---|
Gender equity | Did not answer |
---|
Charitable giving through the community foundation | Getting better |
---|
Number of people and organizations involved in philanthropic giving | Getting better |
---|
|
Extent to Which Organization Can Claim Tangible and Measurable Achievements in the Past Three Years |
---|
Poverty | Work in the sphere but no measurable achievement |
---|
Crime | Work in the sphere but no measurable achievement |
---|
Trust among different sections of the community | A few small achievements |
---|
Equitable distribution of resources and services | Do not work in this sphere |
---|
Social position of marginalized groups | Do not work in this sphere |
---|
Responsiveness of authorities | Do not work in this sphere |
---|
Appropriateness of public policies | Do not work in this sphere |
---|
Value of community assets | Work in the sphere but no measurable achievement |
---|
Quality of the environment | Work in the sphere but no measurable achievement |
---|
Number of people and organizations working to change and improve their community | A few small achievements |
---|
Levels of innovation and risk taking in addressing community problems | A few small achievements |
---|
Networks and links between different parts of the community | A few small achievements |
---|
Gender equity | Do not work in this sphere |
---|
Charitable giving through the community foundation | Some important achievements |
---|
Number of people and organizations involved in philanthropic giving | Some important achievements |
---|
|
Active Partnerships |
---|
Formal community associations and groups | Little |
---|
Informal associations of citizens | Not at all |
---|
Non-governmental organizations | Little |
---|
Local government | Little |
---|
National government | Little |
---|
Universities | Little |
---|
Schools | Little |
---|
Businesses | Little |
---|
|
Other Institutions Helpful to Our Work |
---|
National association of grantmakers | Neither helpful or unhelpful |
---|
Regional association of grantmakers | Helpful |
---|
Global Fund for Community Foundations | Neither helpful or unhelpful |
---|
Particular foundation | Helpful |
---|
Other organization | Neither helpful or unhelpful |
---|
|
Involvement of Local People |
---|
Regularly survey local people about our programs | No |
---|
Local people are engaged in the delivery of our work | Yes |
---|
Local people control what our organization does | Yes |
---|
Have local people represented on our board | Yes |
---|
Have regular sessions where local people advise us what our programs should do | No |
---|
Actively engage local people as volunteers | Yes |
---|
All of our board is composed of local people | Yes |
---|
Account to local people about our successes and failures each year | Yes |
---|
|
Assistance in Overcoming Main Difficulties Faced in Developing Organization Further |
---|
Increased funding | Important |
---|
Better legal or fiscal environment | Important |
---|
More volunteers | Neither important nor unimportant |
---|
Access to advice or technical assistance | Neither important nor unimportant |
---|
Better local culture of giving | Very important |
---|
Stronger civil society | Very important |
---|
More responsive authorities | Neither important nor unimportant |
---|
|
Other | Did not answer |
---|
Most Meaningful Change that Organization Has Helped to Bring About in the Last Three Years | Through the creation of an online nonprofit database and publication of a charity giving guide, the foundation has raised awareness of the impact of the local nonprofit sector on our community’s quality of life. We have also conducted research to identify the largest untapped source of capital to support the local nonprofit sector-transfer of wealth from estates-and mobilized local leadership to begin to put this transfer of wealth to work. Finally, we have created helpful tools, such as the Kern Real Estate Foundation, that are beginning to generate new sources of capital from previously untapped resources to support local charitable organizations. |
---|