Stark Community Foundation Announces Record-Setting Year of Community Impact

January 26, 2023

Stark Community Foundation announced today that 2022 was a record-setting year of community impact.

Thanks to the community’s generosity, an all-time high of $22.5 million was awarded in grants and a record-breaking 46 new charitable funds were established. Approximately $30 million was raised last year in outright and planned gifts, making 2022 the second-largest fundraising year in Foundation history.

“2022 was a year of records and firsts and a year of continuing to move our community forward through the power of philanthropy,” said Mark J. Samolczyk, president and CEO of Stark Community Foundation.

In 2022, the Foundation and its family of donors granted more than ever before to nonprofits in Stark County and beyond. An all-time high of $22.5 million benefited over 750 organizations in support of economic development, education, the arts, mental health, affordable housing and other meaningful causes. This most recent milestone brings Stark Community Foundation to $230 million in grants awarded since 1963.

Of the $30 million raised in 2022 by individuals, families, businesses and organizations, $21 million was in outright gifts and $9 million was in planned gifts. These gifts established a record 46 new charitable funds, bringing the total number of charitable funds managed by the Foundation to 900.

“We are grateful for the generations of Stark Community Foundation donors who trust the Foundation to carry out the good they want to see in their community and honor their personal legacies,” said Bridgette L. Neisel, vice president of advancement.

By year’s end, Stark Community Foundation’s assets for the betterment of our community totaled more than $335 million. With this asset size, the Foundation remains in the top 10 percent of community foundations in the United States today.

Other highlights from 2022 include:

• Awarding $1.6 million through our Community Responsive Grant Program, the Foundation’s largest competitive grantmaking program designed to meet area nonprofits’ evolving needs and opportunities.

• Addressing child poverty at the neighborhood level by awarding more than $225,000 to organizations as part of the Foundation’s Protecting Stark’s Future initiative.

• Releasing a nonprofit service provider assessment to better understand the current and projected state of the nonprofit sector in Stark County.

• Convening the Stark County Behavioral Health Collective, a group of community leaders working together to identify ways to improve local behavioral health outcomes.

• Unveiling a new, mobile-responsive website to make it easier for people to learn about how we serve donors, lead community initiatives and collectively impact nonprofits and students.

• Launching a new series of seasonal newsletters highlighting local people and organizations making a difference in our community and providing giving tools, research reports and inspiring news.

In 2023, Stark Community Foundation is celebrating 60 years of helping generous people give to the nonprofits they care about. To commemorate this milestone, the Foundation is partnering with various local organizations and businesses in 2023 to give back and celebrate with the community.