NEWS & PRESS


2025 Annual Meeting Message from our President & CEO

In From the President

Building on Our Legacy.
Expanding Our Reach.
Deepening Our Impact.​

On June 18, we hosted our 2025 Annual Meeting. It was an honor to have so many of you join us in the room, and a privilege for me to join for the first time as president and CEO.

The annual meeting is our opportunity to connect with residents, grantee partners, donors, supporting organizations and affiliates across our seven-county footprint. It is also an opportunity to deliver the State of the Community Foundation Address outlining where we are as a Foundation and where we’re going.

As part of our ongoing commitment to deep listening and thoughtful responsiveness, we’ve made several key updates across the Foundation. These changes were announced today and reflect valuable input from you – our partners. They are part of a larger effort to make our work more accessible and aligned with community priorities and reflect what has been driving our work for the last six months: We’ve been listening. We’ve been learning. And now we’re responding.   

In the content below, I reflect on five key updates shared during the 2025 Annual Meeting:

  • The Numbers: A clean audit from Deloitte that confirmed our 2024 year-end AUM and grantmaking
  • Theory of Change: An update on our strategic planning process and five focus areas to ensure more impactful grantmaking
  • Community Impact Grantmaking: Changes in our Program Department to better reflect our role and community needs
  • MyCF: Launching out new Salesforce technology platform, MyCF, for donors and nonprofit partners
  • Grantee Partner Tables: A pilot program to learn about grantees’ greatest needs and how we can align resources to help with long-term plans.

Let’s Start with the Numbers

We received a clean audit opinion from Deloitte, our financial advisor, that confirmed our 2024 year-end financials.

The foundation currently holds $1.3 billion in assets, more than 250 agency endowments, and are in partnership with more than 5,000 donors, including 12 large local and national philanthropic partners. In 2024 alone, we awarded more than 4,700 grants totaling over $128 million and brought in new gifts of more than $113 million.

Our numbers are not insignificant, but the real story is in how the numbers translate to impact. From support for watersheds and trail systems, to partnering with organizations that help drive southeast Michigan’s economy, and help to nurture the spark of greatness in our region’s young people – the Community Foundation is a trusted convenor.

We take our role in community problem solving very seriously, and we have an infrastructure that local partners can count on.

Theory of Change Informs Focused Grantmaking, Aligned with Regional Needs

Southeast Michigan thrives when people have access to opportunity, essential services, and vibrant public spaces. This is the Theory of Change behind our work. Or, more plainly put, the reason we believe our Five Focus Areas will work in tandem to create a resilient seven-county area.

Last June during our annual meeting, we shared our Strategic Plan: Thriving Together. We said the most important thing in our evolution is to be a better reflection of what we hear from you – our donors and our grantee partners. We launched the Center for Effective Philanthropy survey to learn from our partners. We gathered data about the region from several significant sources. We then synthesized that data alongside the expertise of our program officers.

In response to feedback from the survey and numerous conversations between our staff and community partners like you, we’re aligning our community grantmaking with five strategic focus areas — each grounded in our shared vision of a strong, agile, and resilient southeast Michigan.

  • Economic Opportunity 
  • Health Equity
  • Youth and Education
  • Arts and Culture
  • Public Space and Environment

These focus areas, along with our Community Foundation values, will guide how we invest in long-term solutions and measure the impact of our grantmaking in the region.

Learn more about the focus areas and values

The Community Impact Team and our New Grantmaking Approach

At the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, we’re evolving to better serve and reflect the needs of our partners. One of the ways we’re doing this is by renaming our Program department as the Community Impact team—a name that more clearly reflects the essence of their work and the lasting change they help create.

Informed by community feedback and our strategic planning process, our grantmaking now aligns with five focus areas outlined above.

We’ve also introduced a faster, more streamlined application process for our Community Grants. This August we’ll begin using MyCF, our new platform designed to streamline the grants management experience.

Explore our focus areas, learn more about the updated process, and get started with a Community Grant application here.

Updated Platform for Donor Advisors, Nonprofit Endowment Partners, and Grantees

We’re pleased to announce the launch of MyCF, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan’s new online platform.  MyCF is now the central hub for our nonprofit partners, donor advisors, and nonprofit endowment fund holders.

This new platform offers an improved experience across the board—making it easier to track grant activity, recommend grants from donor-advised funds, manage endowment information, and stay connected with the Community Foundation.

MyCF replaces our DonorCentral and Agency Central systems as well as Fluxx, which will no longer be accessible after August 21.

We’re excited about the opportunities MyCF offers to support your goals and streamline how we work together.

Learn more about MyCF

Launching Grantee Partner Tables

The most interesting part of the Community Foundation’s work is listening and asking thoughtful questions – on purpose and of the people who lead the causes our donors care about. There are three clear themes emerging from what we’re hearing: confusion, uncertainty and a heightened interest in building community partnerships.

We don’t have all the answers. We don’t even have most of the answers. But there are two important ways we’re responding. The first way is through increasing our flexible grantmaking and general operating support. The second is by bringing people together.

We’re calling them Grantee Partner Tables, small groups of grantees getting together to talk about their greatest needs and long-term plans. A place where we can intentionally listen, because frankly, every good plan of action starts with intentional listening. Our first table will be held on July 9.

So many thanks for your partnership.

Building on our legacy. Expanding our reach. Deepening our Impact.

Give us your feedback.  We’re listening.

Yours for Southeast Michigan,

Nicole Sherard-Freeman
President & CEO
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan