GMCF Informational Meeting

The public is invited to attended this informational meeting presented by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation.

This meeting was setup at the request of the informal public planning session group that has been meeting for several weeks now.  It was determined that the best way for this initiative to go forward was to look into setting up a community foundation tentatively named the Riley Community Foundation.

The purpose of the Foundation would be advanced several short-term and long-term projects that have been requested over the years by members of the community, such as a Community Building, city beautification and modernization, and any other ideas that have merit.  To that end one of the best ways to get the community really involved is to have a formal recognized organization with by-laws, a board, volunteer members, etc.  On the financial side of things, it is very beneficial to operate such an organization as a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit.  This allows the organization to be tax-deductible both in it’s operation and for anyone wishing to make monetary gifts and donations.

We are fortunate to have the GMCF in our area which can and does function as an umbrella or parent organization to groups wanting to start their own foundations without having to spend large amounts of time and money establishing their own 501(c)(3) status and the additional expense of paying for oversight to maintain that status.  GMCF as a parent organization would essentially handle many of the financial dealings as well as provide numerous other types of support and help.

The speaker for this event will hopefully be able to provide a very high level overview of what all they could do for our own Foundation should that move forward and give guidance on what the next steps will be in this process.

We encourage anyone and everyone to come out to City Hall and spend the hour with us learning about what could be the next big step for our community.

In the meantime, head on over to the GMCF website and have a look at just some of the things they do.