We’ve been a driving force in philanthropy for 50 years.
$30M
awarded via grants & scholarships
1974
year founded
350+
funds established
$53M
asset size
Our Vision
A community inspired through philanthropy.
Our Mission
To improve the quality of life in Washington County by investing in the community's well-being and making decisions that positively impact future generations.
Our Promise
To utilize reasonable judgment, creative partnerships, diligent financial management, and strategic grantmaking to strengthen our community and connect people who care with causes that matter.
Our Core Values
POWER OF PHILANTHROPY
Transforming lives and strengthening Washington County now and in the future.
Remaining steadfast in our mission and our vision.
SERVICE AND STEWARDSHIP
Maintaining the highest standards of integrity in donor relations, institutional governance, and fiscal management.
Engaging in action that promotes the common good for as long as the need exists.
LEGACY
Honoring those who contributed to our area’s prosperity and pledging to support those who will carry on that legacy.
Valuing the intentions of donors and respecting their vision.
Our Higher Standards
Marietta Community Foundation meets National Standards for operational quality, donor service and accountability in the community foundation sector.
The National Standards Seal by our name indicates official confirmation from the Council on Foundations that we have met the most rigorous standards in philanthropy. It affirms our commitment to financial security, transparency and accountability. It says our grantmaking includes an open, competitive process designed to address the changing needs of our community. The National Standards Seal also confirms our history of honoring donors’ wishes—to support the arts, cultivate gardens, save endangered species, cure illness, expand literacy, feed children—and support countless other important causes.
The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations Program was established in 2000 in cooperation with the Council on Foundations. National Standards guide community foundations in establishing legal, ethical and effective operational practices that serve as blueprints for internal development and benchmarks for external assessment. The 43 National Standards require Marietta Community Foundation to document its policies in donor services, investment management, grantmaking and administration. To receive confirmation of National Standards compliance, Marietta Community Foundation submitted its organizational and financial policies and procedures to a rigorous peer review.
Our History
Marietta Community Foundation was founded in 1974 and headed by the late Carl L. Broughton. The Foundation became relatively dormant before being reactivated in 1992 through a sizable gift from two former Marietta residents, Mary Carolyn McCoy Mildren and William E. Mildren Sr. They established a trust in memory of their late parents to be used as a challenge grant encouraging community leader Robert E. Kirkbride to revitalize the Foundation.
Under Kirkbride's supervision, a new Board of Governors was formed. In 1995, the Foundation received a bequest of $2.4 million from the late Lillian Strecker Smith. Although the J. Frank and Lillian S. Smith gift was unrestricted, it came with a strong directive that the Foundation focused on the needs of the elderly in the community as well as St. Mary's Catholic Parish and Marietta College. This exceptionally generous gift, along with many others, provides the Foundation with unrestricted resources that make it the envy of small community foundations everywhere. It also allows the Foundation to maintain its commitment to administering more than 350 different funds without charging an administration fee.
Today, Marietta Community Foundation has grown beyond $50 million in assets and oversees more than 350 funds. More importantly, it has distributed nearly $30 million to charities during its 50-year lifespan.
