Oct. 20, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation.

Alliance Communications wanted to give back to local communities in its service area. The Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation helped the idea come to life, and today the Keep the Change program has awarded nearly $400,000 to help local nonprofits and causes working to build a better tomorrow.

In 2013, Alliance Communications was experiencing a symptom that comes from being a fast-growing, community-minded company.

The internet, cable TV and telephone service provider was on the move — expanding throughout portions of South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. As the company began serving more communities, “we often had people approach us for donations,” said Paul VanDeBerg, head of business relations.

“As we were growing in all our communities, we were thinking of different ways we could give back. But we wanted to make it a little more systematic — more of a program rather than one person making all our charitable decisions.”

So Alliance turned to the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation for help with establishing a donor-advised fund to support an idea called Keep the Change, a program through which customers’ bills are rounded up to the nearest dollar.

The difference between the billed amount and the rounded amount is pooled, deposited into Alliance’s donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation and used to provide grants to nonprofits throughout its cooperative service area.

A donor-advised fund, a convenient giving vehicle popular for helping donors simplify and maximize their charitable giving, proved to be the perfect way to help the idea come to life, said Mary Kolsrud, the Community Foundation’s vice president for philanthropy.

Photo by Emily Spartz Weerheim

The flexibility offered by a donor-advised fund, combined with the Foundation’s philanthropic expertise and a shared commitment to help build stronger communities made the partnership a perfect fit.

“Partnering with Alliance Communications is another way we have been able to create meaningful change through philanthropy,” Kolsrud said. “We love the Keep the Change program, we’re grateful to Alliance for choosing us as their philanthropic partner, and most of all, we are inspired as they work to build stronger communities — for good, forever.”

VanDeBerg said 92 percent of customers choose to participate in the program and, while the average customer contribution is small — about $6 per year — collectively, the contributions add up.

“Alliance seeded the money to get the fund started, but today, on average, we’re depositing $5,000 into the fund at the Community Foundation each month — those are all contributions from our customers,” he said.

From there, an advisory committee comprised of Alliance customers from different communities, a member of the Alliance board of directors and VanDeBerg meet each quarter to award grants from the fund.

“On average, we give out about $15,000 each quarter,” he said, explaining that Keep the Change grants range from $500 to $10,000. “The great thing about this is that it’s 100 percent customer-funded. So it’s really the customers’ money doing good in their communities.”

‘The best decision we made’

VanDeBerg said the Community Foundation has been key to the success of the Keep the Change program.

“The best decision we made in doing all of this was partnering with the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation,” he said. “We started looking at what’s tax deductible, what’s not tax deductible, nonprofit status, all the accounting — we knew we didn’t have the staff for all of that. The Foundation also helped guide us as we set up some of our bylaws and policies.”

Today, VanDeBerg said, the partnership works like a well-oiled machine.

After the advisory committee reviews grant applications and selects recipients, the Foundation steps in to cover the administrative work involved.

“The Foundation gets the checks ready, does all the accounting and ensures all the IRS rules are covered. So we can just focus on the fun part — and that’s giving the money out.”

Making a difference

Since the Keep the Change program launched in 2013, Alliance Communications has awarded nearly $400,000 in grants to nonprofits and causes throughout South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. The grants provide meaningful support to vital organizations throughout the area.

“A common theme through all of our towns is public safety, so we make a lot of grants to local volunteer fire departments, ambulances, those types of things,” VanDeBerg said.

Other grants support efforts that contribute to the vibrancy of a community: libraries, recreational and outdoor activities, and the arts, he said.

“In many cases, the grants we’re able to award are some of the largest contributions these organizations receive,” VanDeBerg said.

Amy Ahlers, marketing supervisor for Alliance Communications, agreed.

“It’s been fun to see how, when just a little bit of money is pooled together, it can help organizations accomplish some really big things,” Ahlers said, pointing to a few grants as examples.

A recent grant to Bethany Meadows and Bethany Lutheran Home of Brandon helped toward the purchase of a TrioBike Taxi, which enables residents to relive the joy of riding a bike again.

Another grant helped the Baltic branch of Siouxland Libraries replace its roof after it was damaged from heavy spring rains.

And a grant to the Mighty Corson Art Players has helped ensure the continuation of community theater for those in southeastern South Dakota.

“This all ties to a real sense of community,” VanDeBerg said. “Again, these are customer dollars supporting the communities they call home.”

Major milestone

Partnering with businesses such as Alliance Communications as well as individuals and families to help enhance the quality of life for those who call this area home has been the focus of the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation since its founding in 1984.

And recently, the Foundation announced a major milestone in that pursuit — a record $200 million in grants to area nonprofits and causes since its founding.

Photo by Emily Spartz Weerheim

The achievement was announced last week at the Foundation’s annual donor reception.

“This grant-making milestone not only celebrates the spirit of care and remarkable generosity that exists within our community, it also symbolizes the extraordinary level of trust our donors place in us to amplify the impact of their charitable giving,” said Andy Patterson, Community Foundation president. “We are thrilled to announce this landmark figure, and we are excited to continue our work to spark strategic investments in creative solutions for a better tomorrow.”

Standing as a catalyst for good, the Foundation connects visionary donors, nonprofits and civic partners to help drive positive change through philanthropy, said Susie Patrick, chair of the Foundation’s board of directors.

“In partnership with our donors, the Foundation has helped enhance our area’s quality of life by supporting community-based nonprofits working to address critical challenges in education, health care, human services, arts and culture, community development, youth and recreation and more,” Patrick said.

“While we celebrate this milestone, we know there is still more work to do. So we are focused on planning for future investments and are looking ahead to new and innovative ways through which we can harness the power and purpose of philanthropy to create a brighter community where everyone can thrive.”

Donors made milestone possible

As one of the state’s largest grant-makers, the majority of the Foundation’s grant-making comes from the hundreds of charitable funds it holds for individuals, families and businesses.

Photo by Emily Spartz Weerheim

Steve and Roxanne Lynch created their donor-advised fund to streamline their charitable giving and maximize philanthropic tax advantages. Over the past year, the Lynches have directed grants from their fund to a local church and, most recently, to help families impacted by COVID-19.

“I would recommend the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation to anyone – it’s such a great way to give,” Steve Lynch said. “We started our donor-advised fund with a sizable contribution that was advantageous at the time from a tax standpoint. From there, we’ve been able to give to our favorite charities and causes over time when and where it’s made sense.”

Longtime Sioux Falls business owners Garry and Dianne Jacobson began working with the Foundation in 2012. Over the years, they’ve involved their family in their philanthropy, creating a tradition of giving through the Garry and Dianne Jacobson Family Foundation, a donor-advised endowment fund held at the Community Foundation.

Because of their innovative and consistent philanthropic support, the Jacobsons are recipients of the 2020 Friend of the Foundation award, recognizing those whose philanthropy and spirit of care have positively impacted the Sioux Falls area.

Learn more about the Community Foundation’s work in its 2020 annual report at sfacf.org.