Our job as a community foundation is to build, not just for the next five years, but for the next hundred. We don't know exactly what Summit County will need, but we know philanthropy, once it takes hold in people of every age, is the most powerful and nimble way to meet it. The Inspire Fund is built to do exactly that: strengthen local nonprofits, welcome new residents, and raise up the next generation of givers in Summit County.
The Fund was seeded by a founding gift from longtime residents and Summit Foundation supporters Howard and Sue Carver. Their gift got the Inspire Fund started, but its purpose is bigger than any one gift: it's an invitation for the whole community to invest in itself.
"Sue and I have been lucky enough to support this community for a long time, and if there's one thing we've learned, it's that a single gift only solves a single problem. It doesn't ask what comes next." - Howard Carver, Inspire Fund founding donor.
What the Inspire Fund does
The Fund is organized around three focus areas.
Nonprofit capacity building
Education, skill building, governance support, and resources so local nonprofits have what they need today and tomorrow.
Fundraising and Governance Training
Research and Tools to Understand the Nonprofit Landscape
The Inspire Fund is where you give when you're ready to go further for something that moves you. It works alongside, not instead of, the everyday support that keeps Summit Foundation's core programs and grants running. Both matter.
"We didn't want this to be just another campaign that ends the day a goal is met. It's an invitation for our neighbors to see themselves as philanthropists in their own right, whatever the size of their gift." - Sue Carver, Inspire Fund founding Donor
