NEWS

Icicle Fund’s 2022 grants are a watershed moment for nonprofits

Story by Marlene Farrell for The Good Life

June, 2022

North central Washington would be a very different place without the Icicle Fund, which was founded in 1998 by Harriet Bullitt. Forty-five million dollars has been distributed to over 100 nonprofit organizations in Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan and Grant Counties over the years.

Beyond financial support, it’s about the intention that Bullitt built into Icicle Fund. The aim has always been to support work in the interconnected areas of the arts, the environment, and cultural and natural history.

As explained on Icicle Fund’s website, “A sense of place is central to the Fund’s mission. It is this belief that strong connections of people to place are built and nurtured through artistic expression, imagination, understanding of the past, experience in nature, and care for wildlife and natural landscapes.”

Christine Morgan, Icicle Fund executive director, explained, “Icicle Fund is just one part of the ecosystem of regional organizations that uplift our communities.”

The parable of the long spoons, chosen by Bullitt, serves as a guiding principle for Icicle Fund. The parable reflects how a challenge — trying and failing to feed oneself with an overly long spoon — can be overcome and turned into opportunity through community and innovation—by using the long spoons to feed each other instead.

Bullitt considered the parable emblematic of Icicle Fund’s work. “We take it seriously, both internally and externally,” said Morgan.

Icicle Fund turns the parable of the long spoons into action through a variety of grant opportunities for nonprofits, including annual community support grants.

In 2021, Icicle Fund awarded $2.3 million to the region, and this year that amount is about $2 million so far. A new change to the community support grant program is that funding is unrestricted. This gives nonprofits the flexibility to put the money where it will make the most meaningful impact and allows them to pivot, if necessary, in unpredictable times.

Unrestricted giving sounds less complex, Morgan said, but it’s actually more so because there needs to be greater understanding of each organization and its mission, capacity and methodology. It requires trust.

Additionally, Icicle Fund reached out to some smaller/ underserved nonprofits to raise awareness of available grants and advise them through the application process, which was streamlined to remove a few steps and simplify grant reporting. This year, ten organizations applied for and received funding for the first time.

Through a partnership with the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, Icicle Fund also offered strategic consulting grants in 2021.

Sustainable NCW

Some organizations, such as Sustainable NCW, received both types of funding. “The support via the strategic planning grant helped us to focus in on our top priorities,” said executive director, Jana Fischback. “By surveying key stakeholders, we could move forward with confidence that we were working on the right projects, the Waste Wizard, our new online recycling search tool, and our Idle Free Zones campaign at local schools. The Icicle Fund's support has helped us work on not just those but also our other events, like our Earth Day Fair at Pybus, discussion groups, film screenings and free community classes.”

“Unrestricted funds help cover things that aren’t glamorous,” said Fischback. “Business sponsors and community members are more eager to donate toward specific programs. But we also need funds to keep the proverbial lights on and pay for things like rent, insurance, software, and other technology. This helps us spend more time working directly on our mission of promoting a culture of environmental stewardship and social sustainability, rather than spending time on fundraising. We don't have to carefully track each dollar but are trusted to use the funds as needed, which saves me time on grant writing and reporting.”

Using Waste Wizard, people can look up anything they're looking to get rid of, whether that be to recycle it, donate it, or figure out a way to reuse it. “This tool is comprehensive, with hundreds of materials listed. It includes photos of the items, synonyms when items have different names, and lists every place that takes the item.” Translation into Spanish is also available.

NCW Arts Alliance - (NCWArts)

NCWArts, a new nonprofit that will serve Chelan and Douglas Counties, is gaining momentum quickly thanks to Icicle Fund support through both grants. “Without the strategic consulting grant, we would not be here today,” said Kmbris Bond, board chair and local artist. “The business plan that we created with the consultant’s help is substantial and comprehensive, mapping out a path for success.”

Bond and the other all-volunteer board members were then able to apply for and receive $35,000, the largest community support grant that Icicle Fund allocated this year. “The unrestricted grant is wonderfully respectful of the dynamic nature of a newly formed organization. This will allow the Arts Alliance to grow in response to community needs while supporting the work that goes into that growth. It will help us get started with hiring help, building a brand, and beginning to perform the services of connecting artists with each other and the community.”

Bond is excited for the coming months, saying, “The steering committee has been working hard to build a strong, diverse board and prepare for a more official launch and rollout of initiatives soon.”

Upper Valley Historical Society (UVHS) and the Greater Leavenworth Museum

“After being closed for two years due to the pandemic and museum relocation, we expended nearly all of our energy and resources on reopening the museum in February 2021,” said Matt Cade, UVHS president. “Shortly afterward, we realized we needed a roadmap with goals and objectives so we could use our limited resources effectively.” The timing for the strategic consulting grant was perfect.

“Because of that grant, we are focusing our energies on establishing new, or strengthening existing, collaborative partnerships with the Cascade School District, Leavenworth Winter Sports Club, Wenatchee River Institute, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, among others.”

They then received a community support grant. “We are delighted that this grant is unrestricted, as it allows us to fill an unexpected need,” said Cade.

“The board plans to use the grant towards relocating the museum kiosk to expand our square footage of available exhibit space by more than 100 square feet. This newly added space will expand our p’squosa exhibit, showing their past and their present.

“This grant also allows us to feel more comfortable hiring staff. Previously, we relied on our volunteers to staff the museum during operating hours. The past two years have been tough trying to avoid burnout. Volunteer hours donated to the museum for 2021 is roughly 4000 hours.”

Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center

“This is the first grant that the Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center has received from the Icicle Fund,” said Kristen Heidenthal, Museum Coordinator for the History/Archaeology Program for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CCT).

“The changes in the application process really helps small organizations, like the Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center,” she said. “Icicle Fund is cognizant of the time it takes to apply for grants and realizes that staff at small organizations wear many hats.”

The Icicle Fund grant is supporting a name change for the center to an Okanogan Salish (nselxcin) name. “We have started the process of working with Tribal Elders gathering appropriate names. We are using the same interpretive sign manufacturer that we have used for our six other interpretive signs so that we have continuity.” CCT is proud of each milestone as the Interpretive Center is improved and expanded. One important step occurred in 2019 when the building was listed on the Washington Heritage Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

Bullitt, through her unique mix of humility, courage and farsightedness, created the Icicle Fund as a mechanism to uplift the region’s communities. In 2019, she gifted Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort, which she also founded, to the Icicle Fund. Now when guests stay at Sleeping Lady, 100 percent of the net profits go to Icicle Fund and back into the community.

Icicle Fund’s allocation budget has since increased, allowing it to foster even more nonprofit projects.

Bullitt passed away on April 23rd at the age of 97, but her legacy will continue.

Diverse community-centered organizations are thriving from the seeds she planted, and from the nurturing support of Icicle Fund funding. They are able to take next steps toward big dreams, serving more people in connection with the arts, history and the environment of north central Washington.