Providing Home Town Support
The Niagara Community Foundation is regularly invited to participate in community initiatives. The involvement has varied and has included: consultation with respect to strategic plan development; participation in focus groups around particular initiatives or issues; membership on collaboratives, steering or advisory committees for region wide initiatives or acting as financial host for a regional initiative. Our involvement fits into one of the following categories: organizational development, community development or project development.In September 2009, the Board of the Foundation established a policy that when we are approached to participate in a community leadership initiative or if the Foundation develops a new community leadership initiative, then the following criteria comprise the framework to guide our decision making process:
- reflects key principles of trust, flexibility, respect and collaboration and is consistent with the mission, vision and values of the Foundation
- acknowledges not all community development work will immediately
- embraces clear and measureable outcomes - recognizing community building is evolutionary by nature
- brings the right people around the table
- is committed to a common purpose
- avoids duplicating what currently exists in the community, or will in the future
- produces a clear community benefit
- is action oriented processes associated with planning and implementation