Foundation for the Future of Delaware County

Laurie Kramer had to add minutes to her cell phone plan.

Since the dam broke in the summer of 2010, Laurie has worked as a volunteer at the heart of the community effort to rebuild Lake Delhi—an effort that involves a lot of phone calls. Through her relationship with donors, it’s fair to say she has personally touched every one of the $1.7 million raised for the non-endowed Community Fund to Rebuild Lake Delhi.

The Foundation for the Future of Delaware County made one of the first grants to the Community Fund. This gift gave energy and confidence to Laurie and other leaders to move forward and raise the all-important charitable dollars that would be used to match other grants.

The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque provides the back office support, which includes accepting appreciated assets like stocks, providing gift acknowledgements for tax reporting, and keeping track of pledges.

This partnership has freed Laurie up to organize volunteers for a boat raffle, golf outings and other fundraising activities. She has also been able to educate state and county government partners and work hand in hand with engineers and regulators on rebuilding the dam.

“When it became clear that we needed a fundraising effort of this size, we knew it was essential that we provide accountability and transparency of the funds people gave to us,” says Laurie. “Working with the Community Foundation gave us—and our donors—the peace of mind we needed to move forward.”