PURPOSE:

The purpose of this agenda item is to seek input and approval from City Council to proceed with negotiations on the attached draft Agreement with the Burbank Community Foundation for the City to be a lead partner in the Foundation.

BACKGROUND:

The Burbank Community Foundation was incorporated as a non-profit corporation on May 11, 2000 with the mission of supporting and advancing the educational, cultural, and economic interests of the Burbank community.  Over the past five years, the Foundation has provided scholarships to high school seniors and sponsored a few non-profit programs such as the YMCA�s Healthy Kids Day and Shakespeare at Play for grammar school children.  The original intent of the Burbank Community Foundation was to be a small community-run organization managed by the Board of Directors and had not intended to include the position of an Executive Director.  Since that time, the Board has considered expanding the operations but has not had sufficient funds to hire an Executive Director nor have they had sufficient funds to expand due to high overhead costs of operating an organization.  The Burbank Community Foundation funds have been acquired through the contributions of Board members and donations from the occasional solicitations of Board members to individual donors.   Moreover, due to the current limitations of the existing structure, the Burbank Community Foundation has not conducted public fundraising or implemented any formal donation programs. 

Currently, the non-profit organizations in Burbank seem to access a small percentage of potential donors.  Additionally, there appears to be a feeling amongst the non-profit organizations that they need to compete with each other to access donations.  The Burbank Community Foundation has the potential to raise funds through not yet explored charitable donation programs and to provide capacity building and technical assistance for the non-profit organizations, in addition to expanding services and programs for the benefit of the Burbank community.  

During the past year, in an effort to address some of the challenges described above, the City of Burbank and the Burbank Community Foundation have been discussing the possibility of entering into an Agreement for the City/Agency to take a lead role in the Foundation.  The City�s purposed main function will be to develop the fundraising and marketing components by utilizing internal resources such as Burbank Water and Power�s utility bill inserts and the Public Information Office. 

An internal City taskforce was developed to research other municipalities that also administer community foundations.  The taskforce included staff from various departments including Parks, Recreation, and Community Services, Burbank Water and Power, City Attorney, Community Development and the City Manager�s office.  Staff found that many cities in California such as Anaheim and Long Beach successfully operate community foundations. 

Based on the above-mentioned discussions and subsequent research, it was established the Burbank Community Foundation would benefit from entering into an Agreement with the City.  By accessing the City�s internal resources and services such as staff time, employees as potential donors, Burbank Water and Power�s ability to reach residents and businesses and the Public Information Office�s communication channels the Burbank Community Foundation would have a bigger impact on the community.  Staff proposes to assist the Foundation by assigning an Executive Director to administer the operations either on a part time or �as needed� basis. 

The objective of the draft Agreement will be to broaden giving opportunities to employees, individuals, and businesses via the Foundation to improve the quality of life in Burbank by providing City support to the Burbank Community Foundation in order to expand.

ANALYSIS:

Many employers in Burbank, private businesses and public agencies, achieve their charitable goals through organizations such as the United Way or other national foundations and encourage their employees to do the same by providing opportunities through payroll deductions.  However, some employers do not.  Giving is sometimes limited because of the skepticism of not knowing where the money goes or because of high overhead costs of national organizations.  Furthermore, potential donors may be more willing to give if they know their charity dollars will stay locally.

As mentioned, over the past year, the City staff and the Burbank Community Foundation have had discussions on how they may make a bigger impact in Burbank.  Moreover, the result of this dialogue is for the City to take a more active and formal role in the Foundation.  This is to be accomplished through the proposed Agreement.  The Agreement will delineate the City�s and the Board of Director�s role in the Burbank Community Foundation (BCF).  The Board of Directors will remain an independent body.  The Board of Directors will continue to provide oversight of policy, fundraising and allocation of funds to programs and services.  The Executive Director shall be a City employee designated by the City Manager.  The City may provide additional support staff on an �as needed� basis and will incur the costs of carrying out the responsibilities, administration and operation of the Foundation.  Additionally, the Agreement will list two new positions on the Board of Directors: 1) General Manager of Water and Power and 2) Community Development Director.   As mentioned earlier, other municipalities have used similar models successfully.  In the case of Anaheim, they found that the biggest benefit to this approach is that all donations are returned directly to the community by absorbing the operating costs through the City.    

The proposed process by which the City and the Burbank Community Foundation plan on expanding giving opportunities is to develop an Employee Payroll Deduction Program.  The City of Burbank employees will have an opportunity to give to the Foundation through payroll deductions.  The employee/donor will have an opportunity to specify the amount deducted from his/her paycheck and will also have an opportunity to designate to which charitable organization or activity to donate. 

Once the Employee Payroll Deduction Program is developed and successful within the City, the Foundation will take it to other private and public businesses located in Burbank.  Burbank Water and Power and the Public Information Office will play key roles in the marketing of the Burbank Community Foundation. The utility bills will serve as a mechanism for businesses and residents to donate directly to the Foundation and the Public Information Office will provide marketing and broadcasting opportunities. 

The City Manager will appoint a staff person from Community Development Department to serve as the Executive Director.  The Community Development Department has the expertise in working with independent boards such as the Downtown Burbank Property-Based Business Improvement District (PBID), the Burbank Housing Corporation and other non-profit organizations in Burbank.  Additionally, the Community Development Department has staff that administers the Federal Community Development Block Grant Program, which could serve as a model for the Foundation when disbursing collected funds for programs and activities.

A sub-committee of the current Burbank Community Foundation Board of Directors met with staff recently and is supportive of the draft Agreement with the City.  Furthermore, the Board of Directors plans to meet in mid-November at which time will review and take action on the proposed Agreement.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no direct impact on the City�s General Fund.  The Agreement would require staff time for the Executive Director to administer the programs.  This would be a part-time duty of an existing staff member.  Administrative overhead such as office space, equipment and supplies for the Executive Director would be absorbed by the City via the Redevelopment Agency budget.

CONCLUSION:

Foundations can function as an important community asset.  Participation in the Foundation appears to be an excellent opportunity for both the public and private sectors and their employees to conduct charitable giving.  By utilizing the City�s resources such as staff time, Burbank Water and Power�s utility bill inserts and the Public Information Office�s public service announcements, the Foundation has an opportunity to expand and to provide an improved quality of life for the Burbank community.

RECOMMENDATION:

Staff seeks input and authority from the City Council to negotiate a final agreement with the Burbank Community Foundation.

EXHIBITS:

Exihibit A -- Agreement