Lenses to Sharpen Vision
To create New Realities, we must sharpen our vision to see new possibilities. The Patterson Foundation owes its existence to investments the Patterson family made in newspapers, radio, television and technology. We honor their farsightedness by using these areas of expertise to help focus our work:
- Communications: We believe that connections start with communications. We leverage communications assets, developing innovative strategies with partners and taking bold communications approaches to access new ways of thinking. Social media engagement broadens impact and collaborative possibilities.
- Technology: We are technology advocates, embracing emerging tools and using technology resources to link partners and connect individuals with community resources. Just as technology has transformed business operations, we believe it has the power to enable entities to create New Realities.
- Finance: We believe we can leverage financial resources to generate New Realities, partnering with proven innovators in philanthropic ventures and moving beyond what is to discover what could be. By bringing a business-like sensibility to the philanthropy realm, we seek to make an impact through current and endowed philanthropic investments, social entrepreneurship and innovative business models to enable long-term financial thrivability.
By bringing our expertise to bear in these areas, we believe we can create New Realities that have an impact far beyond a single act of philanthropy.
Aging with Dignity and Independence
Catalyzing Community Action through Communications
Through communications strategies developed in partnership with The Patterson Foundation, SCOPE is sharing the aging with dignity and independence themes that emerged from its community-based research. SCOPE is engaging the community with the goal of inspiring community action. As one of the nation’s largest counties with a significantly older demographic, Sarasota County offers an ideal laboratory to identify needs and examine how older adults interact with the surrounding community.
Download the Aging with Dignity and Independence research results and themes.
Building Long-Term Partner Capacity Through Business Models
The Patterson Foundation is serving as a catalyst, assisting SCOPE as it builds its business capacity. By optimizing the financial sustainability of an organization that engages the community around important issues, the Foundation is building a replicable strategy that can serve as a model for other communities seeking to support dignified, independent aging. To realize this goal, we will also share what we’ve learned by participating in events and partnering with community groups to continue to support innovative thinking.
Visit the Aging with Dignity and Independence initiative page
Arthritis Foundation, Florida Chapter
Creating New Realities with Sustainable Fundraising
The Patterson Foundation provided a $500,000 matching challenge in 2010. In 2011, the Foundation provided an additional $250,000 match for new or increased donations made during the statewide Jingle Bell Run/Walk events. The match funds will fund an endowment to support the Arthritis Foundation Florida Chapter. The 2011 Jingle Bell Run/Walk funds raised are in the process of being verified.
By bringing new strategies to the table, in 2010, we helped the Arthritis Foundation Florida Chapter increase fundraising 318 percent over 2009 Jingle Bell Run/Walk donation levels. The endowment will build on that momentum, creating a sustainable framework that supports future efforts.
Using Social Media and Strategic Communications to Deliver Returns
To generate a stronger donor response, we worked with the Arthritis Foundation Florida Chapter to enhance its communications approach. Our strategic communications partner developed social and traditional media strategies to raise donor awareness through online and offline media exposure. In 2011, the strategic communications partner increased the Arthritis Foundation Florida Chapter’s capacity to leverage its new communications skills by providing communications training to the organization’s staff. The goal is to sustain the impact well beyond The Patterson Foundation’s initial investment.
Visit the Arthritis initiative page
Bringing Science Home - Diabetes
Generating Sustainable Progress
USF is committed to medical excellence and the practical application of new methods to improve the lives of those affected by chronic disease. We extended our $5.6 million partnership with USF Health for the Bringing Science Home initiative from three years to five. And we announced a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge up to $2 million for donations benefiting the initiative. The match will create a $4 million endowment for the long-term thrivability of Bringing Science Home.
Creating Ripple Effects with Communications and Technology
By working within the medical education system to apply new ideas to the larger community, the Foundation’s collaboration with USF on the Bringing Science Home initiative is generating a lasting effect. The next generation of medical professionals are inspired to embrace a holistic view of chronic disease treatment, and the ideas generated by the project are being widely shared via a variety of online and offline communications and technology tools. Among its many successes, Bringing Science Home launched a national Students with Diabetes organization, delivered a presentation on lessons learned at the annual American Association of Diabetes Educators meeting and hosted a retreat for young adults with diabetes. The success of the project rippled beyond its initial focus, with the Bringing Science Home partners launching a Students with Asthma group in 2011.
Visit the Bringing Science Home - Diabetes initiative page
Caregiver Connect
Leveraging Technology and Communications to Connect Caregivers and Resources
As The Patterson Foundation learned during the exploration phase of the initiative, empowering caregivers can make a profound difference. Share the Care’s innovative Caregiver Central website assesses caregivers and suggests needed resources to empower them. Through this initiative, we will monitor the effectiveness of the website and eventually help develop a model to share it with other communities.
Using Financial and Business Know-How to Facilitate Innovation
The Patterson Foundation is committed to creating long-term impact by bringing a business-like focus on accountability and sustainable models to philanthropic pursuits. We continue to support the development of a website that thrives financially so that it can support caregivers by connecting them to the resources they need – today and into the future. Our goal is to develop a model to bring Caregiver Central to other communities, thus creating New Realities for caregivers and the people they serve.
Visit the Caregiver Connect initiative page
Collaborative Restructuring
Exploring Effective Approaches
Just as businesses can forge partnerships to create stronger operations, nonprofit organizations can band together to more effectively address community needs. In Florida, The Patterson Foundation is creating a network of trained consultants who specialize in facilitating projects to assess and optimize organizational capabilities. We are underwriting intensive training by La Piana Consulting to develop a group of experts with the relevant skills. The goal is to create New Realities by generating the expertise needed to sustain long-term impact.
Leveraging Communications and Technology to Facilitate Collaboration
Our groundbreaking work with a diverse network of partners is ongoing, and, as designed, it is a learning journey. We are connecting with foundations in other states to gain fresh perspectives and communicating with a network of trained facilitators to share what we’ve learned. We are partnering with organizations that volunteer to test the transformative possibilities of strategic restructuring, using communication and technology tools to create sustainable New Realities. For example, our trained initiative leader recently facilitated the consolidation of American Red Cross Chapters in our region.
Visit the Collaborative Restructuring initiative page
Disaster
Leveraging Financial Assets for Communities in Need
When disasters strike, communities have impulses to pull together, and people in surrounding areas are inspired to take action. The Patterson Foundation recently used its financial assets to assist communities in Alabama devastated by tornadoes, initially donating $50,000 to a gift card fundraising effort that generated an enormous community response. Reacting quickly to changing events on the ground and an outpouring of generosity from the community, we increased the match twice – first to $200,000, then to $250,000, working closely with the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama to maximize assets. The result was $500,000 to aid rebuilding efforts.
Using Communications and Technology Tools to Heighten Responses
Leveraging our communications skills and relationships with media outlets, The Patterson Foundation worked with radio stations in Florida and Alabama, supported innovative online and offline communications efforts and coached local organizations on media relations to generate a response to match the scale of the disaster. As a result, philanthropic organizations in Alabama learned new ways to approach fundraising efforts. This will have an impact past the current need long into the future. The Patterson Foundation continues to create and improve collaborative possibilities and inspire generosity across communities to enable organizations to quickly respond when disaster strikes. We are uniquely positioned to help local organizations evolve as the need arises.
Learn about other ways we are supporting collaboration around disasters through our partnership with NetHope, a collaboration of more than 30 of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations and global technology companies working together to solve problems and share knowledge.
Visit the Disaster initiative page
EdExplore
Connecting Teachers and Students to Cultural Experiences through Technology
Technology developments unleashed a wave of entrepreneurship worldwide by connecting businesses with customers. The Patterson Foundation brings this entrepreneurial thinking to the education realm, playing a key role in developing EdExploreSRQ.com, an online platform that connects teachers to local cultural and science assets that bring the school curriculum to life. The platform, launched in 2011, is administered by the Sarasota County School District and currently connects teachers to more than 100 curriculum-aligned community experiences.
Ensuring Ongoing Exposure to Culture and Science with a Financial Challenge
To maximize the impact of the new technology platform and ensure financial sustainability, The Patterson Foundation provided a $500,000 matching challenge that will raise $1 million to fund EdExplorations to support experiential learning in Sarasota County Schools. This innovative approach also provides a model that can be used in other communities with a goal of linking cultural assets to education to create New Realities.
Visit the EdExplore initiative page.
New Media Journalism
Communicating Block by Block
The Patterson Foundation is helping online publishers connect and learn from one another online and offline through Block by Block. The group was founded at a community news summit funded in part by The Patterson Foundation in 2010 and is now taking steps to form a trade association. The group brings local, online community news publishers together to share new ideas and best practices on community engagement, financial sustainability and more. The Patterson Foundation continues to support the group with resources and expertise to promote integrity and accuracy in community journalism.
Building Sustainable Financial Models and Leveraging Technology
To create New Realities in a rapidly changing media space, the Foundation chose nearly a dozen online publishers who participated in “Super Camp,” a mentoring process where coaches work with online publishers to build sustainable business models leading to long-term success. The goal is to create new strategies that can be applied by other new media journalists. In addition, the Foundation has partnered with a University of Missouri Reynolds Journalism fellow to create the Journalism Accelerator, an online platform connecting news and information experts to those seeking ideas – all to enrich the new media ecology. The Journalism Accelerator employs a unique combination of technology that adjusts to users.
Visit the New Media Journalism initiative page.
Ringling College Collaboratory
Creating Opportunities for Students To Be Workforce Ready
To prepare the next generation of thinkers, leaders and innovators, The Patterson Foundation is working with Ringling College of Art and Design to enable students from a variety of programs to gain real-world experience by engaging in projects with clients from the public and private sectors. Students will make key contributions to help organizations find unique solutions while gaining valuable practical experience. In turn, students will be able to apply the real-world experience they’ve gained when they leave college, giving them a distinct competitive advantage.
Visit the Ringling College Collaboratory initiative page.
Sarasota National Cemetery
Connecting Public and Private Resources through Communications
The Sarasota National Cemetery assembly area project marks the first time a private foundation is collaborating with the US Department of Veterans Affairs – National Cemetery Administration on the design and construction of an enhancement donation of this size at a national cemetery. It all began with communicating a vision – working with veterans groups, military families and federal officials to collaborate on a project that honors our shared values of patriotism and our nation’s military veterans.
Establishing a Gift and an Endowment for Ongoing Financial Support
As part of our commitment to deliver a long-term impact, The Patterson Foundation provided $5.6 million for the assembly area at the Sarasota National Cemetery in Florida. The 1.77-acre enhancement will include shade, seating and commissioned art commemorating the service of veterans and their families. An endowment is planned to manage future maintenance, ensuring that the original gift will continue to inspire patriotism and honor military service long into the future. The Foundation also hopes to inspire other entities to replicate the unique public-private strategy used in this initiative to enrich other communities.
Visit the Sarasota National Cemetery Assembly Area initiative page.
Season of Sharing
Using Financial Resources to Inspire Community Generosity
In keeping with its goal of working within existing philanthropic endeavors to make a difference, the Foundation works directly with Season of Sharing partners to inspire donations, all of which go directly to individuals and families in need. The Foundation provided additional financial resources to inspire new donors during the 2011-2012 campaign, making an initial matching pledge of $500,000 for new or increased donations to assist individuals and families.
Leveraging Communications and Technology Assets in an Unprecedented Partnership
Demonstrating the power of collaboration, the Foundation and its partners work together to raise awareness of the need for donations through a variety of communications and technology tools. In an unprecedented collaboration involving nearly every local media group, messages about Season of Sharing were conveyed in newspapers, monthly magazines, radio, television, online and direct mail outlets. As a result, the 2010-2011 Season of Sharing campaign garnered an additional 1,116 donors, and a total of 1,663 more participated in the campaign than the total from the 2009-2010 initiative, including 77 businesses. Together, the partners raised $1.53 million, with $1.57 million contributed in 2010-2011.
Visit the Season of Sharing page.
Sister M. Lucia Haas Scholarship Endowment
Creating a Vision of Financial Thrivability
We are committed to looking beyond what is and focusing on what could be. Creating New Realities for future generations requires more than a single act of philanthropy: It involves mobilizing ongoing community support. The Patterson Foundation inspired community generosity with a $1 million gift and announced a $1 million match for the Sister M. Lucia Haas scholarship endowment. Through this unique partnership between a private philanthropic organization and a Catholic school, students will receive much-needed tuition assistance. Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School is fundraising to meet the matching challenge.
Making Connections through Communications
It’s important for organizations that seek to create New Realities to connect with their communities. The Patterson Foundation helped Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School elevate its brand with communications expertise, providing the resources for the professional design of new school and spirit logos.
Visit the Sister M. Lucia Haas Scholrship Endowment page.
Student Emergency Fund
Leveraging Financial Assets to Meet Emergency Requirements
The Student Emergency Fund offers resources after other funding mechanisms are exhausted and alleviating the need for educators to tap their own personal resources to provide for students in need. The fund was created to meet urgent requirements and mitigate crises now and into the future, allowing staff, teachers and administrators to provide items such as shoes, glasses, school supplies and emergency medical assistance in the absence of other resources.
Supporting Long-Term, Thrivable Impact
The Patterson Foundation is leveraging community generosity to support the long-term impact of the Student Emergency Fund. As the community’s generous response continues, the fund will become self-sufficient while making a real difference in the lives of students.
Visit the Student Emergency Fund page.