2003 Year-End Summary

To all Springboard Foundation Members, Contributors and Friends:

It is with great pleasure that we report on another record year for the Springboard Foundation. In 2003 we will distribute over $275,000 in grants to 20 well deserving educational and after-school programs in Chicago. Importantly, these distributions will signify another noteworthy milestone: Springboard will surpass $1,000,000 in cumulative distributions since our inception in 1998. We thank all of our members, contributors and supporters who have helped us reach this point. Stay tuned, much is yet to come.

Springboard’s mission is to support grass roots educational and after school programs in some of the city’s most challenged neighborhoods. We are hands on. Our 40 active members make site visits to each program to interact with the children and get a good understanding of the leadership capabilities of program directors and board members. We have learned that these leaders are often the most important ingredients of a successful program and we look to fund the most promising. Over the past twelve months, Springboard members have visited with 15 previously funded programs and have made initial visits to 10 new programs. Once we select a program to support, we dedicate a team of our members to monitor the program, ensure that our funds are well spent, and confirm that the program is progressing according to plan. Analogous to a venture capital fund, Springboard makes multi-year grants to those programs that it believes will succeed long-term and be better positioned for eventual funding from larger pools of capital.

In just our sixth year, we are happy to report that many of the programs we previously funded have flourished to a point where they stand firmly on their own, attracting major contributions from larger philanthropists. The San Miguel School, located in the Back of the Yards neighborhood is a prime example of this success. In 1999, when we first met with the founder and president Brother Edmund Siderewicz, San Miguel operated a single campus for 70 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Today, San Miguel teaches 135 students at two locations, providing educational avenues for neighborhood children unavailable in the public system. Over one hundred of its graduates are in, or have graduated from, local high schools and many return to San Miguel regularly, not only for continued support, but also to share experiences and lead the underclassmen.

Of the 20 programs Springboard is supporting this year, 15 have been funded previously and 5 are first time awardees. Our grants ranged from $7,500 to $20,000 with an average of $13,750. Because our grantees have an average budget of approximately $200,000, we believe we are making a meaningful contribution to these programs and, in many cases, we represent their largest award.

In addition to funding, an important aspect of the Springboard relationship is our access to outside service providers. Financial aid can only go so far. The programs that Springboard supports are small and many times need help with board development, strategic planning, fundraising, technology implementation, accounting and marketing. We have formed relationships with leading not-for-profit service providers including The Chicago Community Trust, Executive Service Corps, IT Resource Center, Illinois Facilities Fund, the Community Media Workshop, CPA’s for the Public Interest, B2P Commerce and the Non-Profit Financial Center to offer our programs expertise in areas that are vital to their development and growth. We host a roundtable each fall where all of our programs can meet and learn about these service providers. Importantly, if our grantees wish to seek assistance from these service providers, we aid such a decision by underwriting a significant percentage of the project cost. To date we have had many success stories of the positive working relationships between our programs and these experts.

This year, we have elected to eat our own cooking by hiring the Executive Service Corps to perform an analysis of our organizational plan and strategic direction. After six years of growth and functioning primarily in the same market, we thought it important to take a step back, analyze our strategy and decipher where we should be down the road. We are excited by the process and the opportunity to position Springboard for the long term. Stay tuned; you may be approached by an Executive Service Corps consultant to seek your thoughts on Springboard’s operations, success to date, and future potential. We hope to have this plan completed by the summer of 2004.

Springboard thrives on the support and hard work of its 40 members and over 20 outside contributors. Out of the approximately $300,000 raised in 2003, $240,000 will come from its members with the remainder coming from friends, family members, foundations and corporations who have an affiliation with Springboard or one of its members. This additional support is vital to our growth and we thank all who have contributed. Importantly, all of our administrative expenses are underwritten by our membership so that 100% of contributions from other supporters are invested directly into the community.

Finally, as many of you know, we host an annual dinner to share with you our efforts and plans; moreover, we seek the thoughts of a distinguished Chicago philanthropist. This past May we were honored to have Richard Driehaus, Founder and Chairman of Dreihaus Capital Management and the Richard Dreihaus Foundation as our guest speaker. Mr. Dreihaus, a leader in charitable giving for the past 20 years, highlighted his perspective on getting involved and giving back to the community. We were extremely pleased to hear his thoughts – they reinforced our belief that Springboard’s type of unique philanthropy works in the city of Chicago.

Springboard continues to grow and have an impact around the city, and we thank all who have helped. Our most important mission is to assist the thousands of inner-city children touched by our grantees each day. For a list of these programs and other information pertaining to Springboard, please visit www.springboardfoundation.org.

With Thanks,

Doug Mabie and Keith Olson