Summary*
Guests: Lynn Ward-Gray, Director of Philanthropy and host, with Mary Muliett, President & CEO of the Battle Creek Community Foundation. This episode introduces Battle Creek Community Foundation’s refreshed strategic direction for the next three fiscal years. Mary explains that the plan was built over roughly nine months with consultant support, community focus groups, one-on-one interviews, staff input, and board involvement. The goal was to listen honestly to what the community values, where BCCF is doing well, and where it should evolve.
Core Message
BCCF has refreshed its mission, defined a new vision, clarified its values, and identified five strategic priorities. Mary emphasizes that completing the plan is not the finish line — it is the launch of the next phase of work.
Updated Mission
“Connecting people, ideas, and resources to expand opportunity and create lasting community benefit for today and tomorrow.” Mary breaks this down as:
- Supporting immediate community needs today
- Stewarding resources for future generations tomorrow
- Connecting people and organizations with similar ideas
- Providing not only financial resources like grants and scholarships, but also information, relationships, and community knowledge
RxKids is highlighted as an example of the mission in action: a project that supports families now while also creating long-term community benefit.
New Vision
“A thriving community where everyone belongs.” Mary says this vision resonated quickly with both staff and the board. It reflects BCCF’s belief that every person in Battle Creek and the surrounding community has purpose, place, and access to opportunity. It also aligns with BCCF’s broader tagline: “For good, for ever, and for all.”
What a Community Foundation Does
Mary explains that a community foundation connects generosity with community need. BCCF:
- Helps donors connect their giving interests with real community needs
- Supports nonprofits and charitable work
- Holds endowed funds so resources can benefit the community for generations
- Balances immediate support with long-term stewardship
She stresses that endowments are especially important now, as nonprofits face funding cuts and instability. Immediate needs matter, but communities also need resources that last beyond any one year or generation.
BCCF’s Five Values
The refreshed values are:
- Integrity — acting with honesty and accountability
- Stewardship — responsibly managing resources for long-term impact
- Equity — expanding access and removing barriers
- Together — building partnerships rooted in trust
- Listening and Learning — elevating community voices and using what is heard to shape action
Mary notes that the entire strategic plan demonstrates “listening and learning,” because it was shaped by community, staff, and board input.
Three Overarching Lenses
BCCF will apply three lenses across all strategic work:
1. Equity
Equity means removing barriers and improving access. Mary gives the example of the Burma Center, where adult learners did not realize BCCF scholarships could apply to them. Instead of simply pointing them to a website, BCCF offered direct support to help teachers understand and navigate the scholarship process.
2. Education
BCCF wants to help the community better understand what the foundation does, what it does not do, and how people can participate in its impact. This includes explaining community foundations, endowments, scholarships, grants, donor-advised funds, and other opportunities more clearly.
3. Effective Systems and Structures
BCCF wants the work it starts to be sustainable. Mary connects this to stewardship: if the foundation launches or supports something, it should be viable long-term or at least for the season it is needed.
Five Strategic Priorities
1. Strengthening Trust and Relationships
BCCF heard that the community wants consistency, transparency, and accessibility. This priority focuses on how BCCF shows up, communicates, builds trust, and ensures people can access the foundation.
2. Focusing Impact
BCCF will refine its grantmaking and scholarship approach using the lenses of equity, education, and systems. For scholarships, the foundation is thinking beyond tuition and books to the broader life needs that help students complete a degree or credential.
3. Embracing Dual Development Roles
BCCF will focus on both:
- Foundation-directed funds, including 12 community opportunity funds where donors can collectively increase impact
- Donor-directed funds, especially donor-advised funds, which help move more dollars to nonprofits while also supporting long-term community benefit
4. Organizational Health and Vitality
BCCF is evaluating its own operations, budget, and capacity so it can spend less on itself, get more resources into the community, and remain healthy and effective long-term.
5. Calibrating BCCF’s Leadership Role
BCCF is clarifying where it should lead, support, or adjust. Mary uses Encourage BC as an example: BCCF will keep the fiscal sponsorship model because it believes in those community projects, but it has merged Encourage BC back into BCCF to reduce cost and capacity strain.
Closing Takeaway
BCCF’s strategic plan is centered on trust, transparency, equity, education, stewardship, and long-term impact. The foundation is positioning itself to better explain its role, deepen relationships, support donors and nonprofits, and build a Battle Creek community where everyone belongs.
*Summary generated with AI