Group aims for Kalispell foundation

Whitefish has one. Other communities have them. Why not Kalispell?

That's the philosophy of a local group trying to gauge interest in creating a community foundation for Kalispell.

A group of community leaders led by Alan Satterlee of Kalispell is hosting a public meeting Wednesday from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Buffalo Hill Training Room at Glacier Bank on Commons Loop.

The steering committee will explain what a foundation is and how it would benefit Kalispell and perhaps a larger area such as all of Flathead County.

"It's a community savings account," Satterlee said.

People donate money to a foundation, a nonprofit organization. A foundation then distributes the money as the donor advises. For instance, someone might specify that money be given to a particular cause or organization.

Donors also can give the foundation general directions such as to distribute money to any cause the organization deems worthy.

"For individuals who want to do philanthropy gifts as part of their estate planning," Satterlee said, "there's nowhere right now they can go and do that without giving to a specific organization."

But a foundation also invests money to generate additional funds for future distribution. That way a donor's initial gift sets up an endowment that keeps on growing and giving.

Satterlee stressed that foundations are not a threat to other nonprofits that rely on donations. They are intended to work in conjunction with such organizations.

In Whitefish, where philanthropic giving has paid for a variety of community facilities, the Whitefish Community Foundation started in 2000 with the goal of reaching $10 million in endowment funds by 2010.

At the end of 2004, the foundation had between $6 million and $8 million in bequests and $250,000 cash in its endowment fund.

Last year, the Whitefish Community Foundation awarded $366,400 in foundation and donor-advised grants to 36 Flathead County nonprofit organizations, bringing the total to $921,000 distributed to nonprofits over the past four years.

Foundations specialize in investments so they can guide donors on how to work donations into tax or estate planning, an idea that's attractive to many potential donors, Satterlee said.

Satterlee has lived in the Flathead Valley for three years and has worked in the nonprofit sector since 1999. He previously worked for Hope Ranch near Whitefish. He and his wife currently own and operate Northwest Passages, a transitional home for girls and young women.

The steering committee hopes by May or June to begin tackling questions such as defining a geographic area the foundation would serve, but right now the group is in the very early stages of development.

Satterlee is heading up the steering committee, which includes Kalispell Mayor Pam Kennedy, Bob Nystuen of Glacier Bank, Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner, Lex Blood of Nonprofit Development Partnership, Steve and Sue Rolfing of Great Northern Llamas and Randy Ogle of Ogle & Worm.

The meeting Wednesday night is intended primarily to introduce the community to the idea of a foundation and to gather public comment. Nonprofit organizations have been invited, but anyone is welcome.

For more information, call Satterlee at 756-5444.

Reporter Camden Easterling may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com