Community foundation passes baton to new director

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November 9, 2015 - 12:00 AM

An optimistic temper runs through the Allen County Community Foundation these days, ever since the organization named a new executive director late last month.
Jeff Cokely, a former pastor at Fellowship Regional Church in Iola, takes over from Susan Michael, who, while relinquishing her title as director, will continue as the group’s administrative lead.
Started in 2012, ACCF is a tax-exempt public charity that pools and leverages the community’s resources for the benefit of local non-profits and allows individual or group donors to establish endowment funds with the aim of helping to sustain various civic institutions or charities in perpetuity.
The foundation began as a fundraising mechanism for the Allen County Regional Hospital, and, in the minds of many in town, ACCF still bears the imprint of that association. Part of Cokely’s role, then, will be to impress upon the wider community the broad advantages — beyond health care — that a philanthropic foundation can offer to donors large and small.
The perks of giving to a community foundation are numerous, argue Cokely and Michael: a small group can obtain the benefits of 501(c)3, non-profit, status without enduring the lengthy and expensive process of registration; a donor can support multiple charities via a single foundation; the donated dollars remain in the community; the foundation can improve the return on an investment; a group that enlists the foundation can qualify for otherwise out-of-reach grants and matching funds; as well as the ease and peace of mind of having your books kept professionally.

COKELY, who has made his home in Iola for nearly 20 years, grew up the son of a factory worker in a small farm town outside Lawrence — a city “otherwise known as Mecca,” jokes the University of Kansas grad.
He is a naturally gifted speaker, with a warm, ebullient personality — traits that served him well in his 34 years in the ministry, and ones he’ll bank on in his new role leading the community foundation.
“He now becomes the guy that can go out there and sell us in a big way,” admits Michael. “Which was desperately needed because I was back here doing all the back office stuff. We needed that missing piece to the puzzle.”
“My vision,” says Cokely, a self-described student of leadership strategy, and someone who wrote his doctoral dissertation on how small groups can determine the success of fledgling organizations, “is to make your vision a reality.
“In being out [in the community], I see myself a lot in people’s living rooms, or around the table in somebody’s office with my blank legal pad, saying ‘Just talk to me. There’s no preconceived notion. You tell me what you’re passionate about. You tell me what you’d like to see happen.’”
The chasm separating his past career and his current one is narrower than appearance would suggest. “As a pastor,” remembers Cokely, “I got to do great things for great people. Here, that is multiplied by the 30-plus organizations we serve.”
The foundation has been an important buoy in the lives of organizations as various as the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility, Haunt for Hirschsprung’s, Farm-City Days, the Iola Public Library, the hospital, the Kiwanis Playground Fund, Wings of Warriors (a cancer support group), Rotary and many more. “And that [work] just feeds me. I really live for that.”

COKELY has worked professionally in the secular world, too — as an investment representative for Edward Jones, for example — and was even, for eight years, on the board of a similar foundation in Salina.
“Good leadership principles are good leadership principles,” insists Cokely. While the core values of any organization should remain consistent, how you deliver on those values in an ever-shifting environment should remain “constantly in flux.”
“All in all,” said Cokely, “we want to be the finest service organization anywhere around.”
To do that, says Cokely, the organization, besides needing to dispel the occasional misunderstanding — like: if something fatal ever befalls the foundation, will donors lose their contributions? Answer: no — the foundation needs to continually harness the trust of the community it serves.
In this respect, the continued tenure of Susan Michael is key. “When you’re dealing with funds that are donated,” said Cokely, “[accountability] is a huge thing. … What we’ve found is that some of [Susan’s] real strengths are my real weaknesses. Bookkeeping, say. Susan already knows how the funds work; she’s a detail person. Jay Kretzmeier handles our taxes, and Jay says our books are as good as any he’s ever seen. And that’s her area of expertise.”
The foundation adds to its level of proficiency by having its larger funds and endowments serviced by one of the country’s most prominent philanthropic institutions, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.  
Part of Cokely’s mission, as he begins a campaign to reintroduce ACCF to the community, is to help stoke the desire to give among the area’s civic-minded citizens.
“Sometimes there are people with a lot of financial resources but by virtue of that, they don’t have a lot of time. Then you have people who may have more time, but not a lot of financial resources. You know what? A group of 10 people who are passionate about something could easily get together with us, each of them put in $10 a month — and [with that] you could make a real difference in the thing you’re passionate about.”
And another thing we like to do, reminds Cokely — “we like giving out funds.” For example, ACCF is the site of a recent pilot program funded by Kansas State University — and matched by a local donor — that offers a $1,000, 3-year renewable scholarship through K-State’s online learning program.

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