Cream City Foundation, a foundation created at the height of the AIDS crisis to help with advocacy and funding, evolved with the times to advocate for marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights in general, and now works to support the LGBTQ+ community of Southeastern Wisconsin through fiscal sponsorship and donor-advised fund programs. The foundation is partnering with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation as a way to address an “increased call for equal funding for disparate outcomes across racial lines,” according to Charlie Nash, Board Chair and President of Cream City. Nash continued that, “Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in the world. Within that, how do we make the foundation more sustainable, returning to our roots as an all-volunteer organization?”
The answer seemed to come from a similar partnership in Chicago with the Chicago Community Trust, a larger community organization similar to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, which has a dedicated LBGTQ+ focused part of the foundation known as the LBGTQ Community Fund. “The LGBTQ Community Fund, an affinity fund of The Chicago Community Trust,” according to the Chicago Community Trust website, “unites donors to support Chicago’s LGBTQ community. Since its founding in 2010, the Fund has provided close to $3 million in grant support to over 50 organizations.” In 2018–19, the Cream City Foundation sent board members down to Chicago to learn about this partnership, and felt that it was “worth repeating,” said Nash. He continued, “We feel like this is a great opportunity that greatly increased the assets of the foundation, joined a number of donors, to move their funds under Cream City Foundation. What they allow us to do is under the coordination of funds under the board of directors, allow for higher and better impacts for the future. We really wanted a model where we are committed to moving forward, volunteer board, and working, building relationships, allow Greater Milwaukee Foundation to focus on the operations side, allow us to run at a lower rate, and have more of those funds to the community.”
Jeremy Podolski, Director of Public Relations and Editorial Strategy for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, outlined in an email to Our Lives some examples of the specific ways that the foundation supports its partner organizations. These examples include grantmaking support, “such as assistance preparing grant guidelines, grant processes, grant proposal reviews, evaluations and communications to grantees,” and financial services including “financial oversight and reports, investment management, 990 preparation, administrative services.” The benefits of this structure include “lower operating expenses, tax benefits, networking and collaboration.” Greg Wesley, president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation said of the partnership, “The Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Cream City Foundation choosing to partner is a win for both organizations and for our community. Cream City Foundation has provided decades of hope and support for LGBTQ+ communities locally, and the need for their knowledge, commitment, and voice continues to grow. An inclusive Milwaukee is far more likely to thrive, which is why the Foundation is focused on its goal of building a Milwaukee for all. That vision cannot be achieved by working alone.”
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