Philanthropy: Gulf Coast Community Foundation

25 Years & Going Strong

By Ryan G. Van Cleave  |  Photo by Nancy Guth

Gulf Coast Community Foundation was created in 1995 thanks to the proceeds from the sale of The Venice Hospital—a community hospital founded over 40 years earlier by local citizens. Now, nearly 25 years later, Gulf Coast has emerged as a top-of-mind philanthropic home for hundreds of families, individuals, businesses, and organizations that have created their own charitable funds there to support important causes in our region and beyond.

Kirstin Fulkerson—now Senior Vice President for Philanthropy—has been with Gulf Coast for the majority of that time. Having been an undergraduate English major, this wasn’t necessarily the career she expected. “As a child, I certainly didn’t say I wanted to work in philanthropy when I grew up,” she explains. “I figured I’d work at Gulf Coast for a year and then go to law school. But 16 years later, I’ve had so many opportunities here—and so much fun—that it’s hard to imagine doing anything else!”

In her work with area donors, she’s had the chance to assist many generous people who plan their legacy through Gulf Coast. “The hardest part of my job is when a donor I’ve worked closely with passes away,” she says. “One woman in particular, Dorothy Iversen, a petite lady who always had a huge smile and a funny joke to make me laugh, named Gulf Coast as beneficiary of her entire estate. When she passed away several years later, I made certain her fund was set up exactly how she wanted, and I called her nonprofits to tell them that her endowment fund would be sending them a (large) check every year, forever, in her name. We have hundreds of donors, just like her, who I have had the privilege to work with over the years.”

Current President and CEO Mark Pritchett also didn’t expect his career to bring him to philanthropy. When he was recruited in 2008 by then-President Teri A. Hansen to head up the foundation’s grantmaking, his first thought was to decline. Yet the idea of seeing the fruits of hard work—something one rarely experiences when working at a statewide level, as Pritchett so often did through the Collins Center up in Tallahassee—held great appeal. After considerable reflection and consideration, he made the move and hasn’t looked back.

When asked how he developed such a keen commitment to philanthropy, Pritchett says, “I’ve had a lot of mentors over the years, and they’ve always encouraged me to give back.” Then he shared how he worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America while in college. His little brother, an eight-year-old named Chucky, still keeps in touch today, more than four decades later. “I remember taking him to McDonald’s and playing basketball with him, but he remembers so much more of the things we spoke about,” says Pritchett. “It’s incredible to see how I was able to guide him a bit, and ultimately change his life for the better.”

Jon Thaxton, Gulf Coast’s Senior Vice President for Community Investment, has his own memorable story about his start with the organization: “When I first came to Gulf Coast, being a self-described amateur etymologist, I looked up the word ‘philanthropy.’ The story goes that Zeus criticized Prometheus for wanting to educate, protect, and clean human beings. Zeus suggests ‘you’re just a philanthropist,’ which was almost like a criticism of the behavior Prometheus was displaying. It comes from combining two Greek words: phil – ’loving’; and anthropos – ‘mankind.’ Literally, philanthropy means a love of mankind. A philanthropist is a human being who loves other human beings. The misconception is that philanthropists are wealthy people who write big checks to lots of causes. What I learned at Gulf Coast Community Foundation is that the act of caring and of showing love to another human being is philanthropy. We’re all capable of philanthropy in our own ways.”

The true impact of Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s philanthropy over more than two decades is hard to summarize. The foundation has been a leader and catalyst in so many things: Being one of the early voices of support to ensure the Legacy Trail was expanded to Sarasota and North Port. Developing the STEMsmart initiative to transform middle-school math and science education in Sarasota County Schools. Creating a systemic, long-term solution to improve and better coordinate services for homeless families in our area.

Pritchett also points to the CareerEdge workforce development initiative that Gulf Coast helped launch and grow, as well as Invest in Incredible, or I3, which strengthens the board governance and operations of area nonprofits. “Without our donors and our nonprofit partners, we simply couldn’t accomplish what we do,” he says. “I3 is such a valuable community investment because it helps those nonprofit partners become stronger and more effective in what they do. The impact is exponential.”

It’s clear that Gulf Coast Community Foundation is a special group to be part of. As Thaxton puts it: “Gulf Coast is a team of people, a team of philanthropists, who are dedicated to their work. It’s that dedication, and that altruistic motive, that really defines the organization and is absolutely key to our success. There’s a need to understand what we do as a job and a business. But what really makes it successful is the caring attitude—the philanthropy.”

Pritchett echoes that value. “It’s a blessing to be part of this community, where so many are generous and want to give back,” he says. “The message I try to get across is that the real impact comes from a combination of emotion plus brains—the heart and the head. That’s the difference between charity and philanthropy. Charity is nice and it makes people feel good. Philanthropy is ongoing and purposeful—it’s what really moves the needle. That’s what Gulf Coast Community Foundation does.”

And that’s what Gulf Coast plans to do for the next 25 years—and beyond.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation is marking its 25th year of operation from now to September 2020.

For More Information on the Foundation, visit GulfCoastCF.org or call 941.486.4600.