By LARRY PEJEAU, guest columnist
The Brown County Community Foundation’s mission is to support our local nonprofit partners by helping them build capacity and sustainability.
In 2016, the BCCF initiated a new program, introduced and championed by board member Kirstie Tiernan, called Giving Dinners. These Giving Dinners were designed to help these partners more effectively communicate their important mission and raise funds to support programming and grow their endowment.
The concept was simple and effective. The BCCF would identify local hosts that had interesting venues and a willingness to share those venues with new friends by throwing a dinner party. Hosts would then have the privilege of picking a local charity to be the beneficiary of that event. The BCCF then worked with that charity to develop a guest list.
The BCCF created the invitation, invited the guests and worked with the host to coordinate the menu for the dinner as well as the entertainment. The BCCF solicited donations of food, beverage and gifts for each event as well as coordinated all of the necessary volunteers to allow the guests to simply mingle, meet new friends and enjoy a leisurely Giving Dinner.
In 2017, six Giving Dinners were hosted and benefited the following charitable entities.
• May 17, Derek Clifford and Rawhide Ranch hosted a dinner on a cool spring evening in their wonderful open barn in support of BCCF pre-K scholarships.
• June 21, Kate and Jacob Ebel and Story Inn hosted a secluded dinner in their beautiful back garden in support of Mother’s Cupboard.
• July 18, Lucinda David and Bob Vernon hosted a dinner under the trees at one long table at their serene Blue Door Park. This dinner was served by Ryan Seward, prepared and contributed by Brozinni’s Pizzeria and featured the 4-H Dog Club. It supported the Brown County Humane Society.
• Sept. 14, Susan and Mike Spagnuolo hosted a dinner at Bear Wallow Distillery. Guests were treated to a “Farm to Fifth” tour of the facility before enjoying a wonderful dinner under the stars in support of Guardian ad Litem.
• Oct. 19, Brian and Darla Fenneman hosted a meal with 80 guests enjoying a delicious dinner prepared by Kevin Ault at three long tables at The Old Barn in support of the Brown County YMCA.
Guests enjoyed a slow cocktail hour with local beer and wines prior to each dinner and were entertained by local musicians. Between dinner and dessert, a representative from the charity would make a short presentation about their organizations and share a compelling story. The CEO of the BCCF would then remind everyone that it was the “giving” portion of the Giving Dinner and ask guests to consider making a donation in support of the benefiting charity.
Thanks to the generosity of the hosts and the many guests who attended these dinners, the BCCF was able to distribute $25,000 in contributions to the six charities.
If you are interested in hosting or attending a Giving Dinner in 2018, visit our website at browncountygives.org and complete the Giving Dinner interest form.
Larry Pejeau is CEO of the Brown County Community Foundation. He can be reached at [email protected] or 812-988-4882.
