Our Purpose
Through endowment funds established by individuals, families, businesses and organizations, our combined resources allow us to not only address community needs today, but help us chart a course for a brighter future in the nine counties we serve along South Carolina’s coast. With our donors, we invest millions of dollars through grantmaking, impact investing and scholarships each year. We are also known for understanding and acting upon the dynamic needs of the communities we serve, with recent examples including our disaster response efforts during and after major storms such as Hurricane Florence, and the creation of the Lowcountry Unity Fund in the wake of the Mother Emanuel AME Church massacre to support causes addressing systemic racism.
Financial resources are among the many tools we employ in our mission to create vibrant communities. Throughout our history, we have served as a community convener to bring residents and leaders together to tackle major structural challenges, such as housing shortages or inequitable school systems. We also have a long history of incubating grassroots causes and providing them with structural support to grow into fully operational nonprofit organizations. Some organizations that began as programs at Coastal Community Foundation — including the Lowcountry Food Bank, One80 Place and the Center for Heirs Property Preservation — are now major regional nonprofits addressing critical needs.
Our Mission
Coastal Community Foundation works to create communities rich in equity, opportunity, and well-being by uniting people and investing resources so that all community members have a pathway to achieve their goals.
Our Core Values and Goals
These principles are embedded in everything that we do at Coastal Community Foundation.
Values
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Stewardship
We will provide insightful service to our donors, grantees and communities.Integrity
We will earn and maintain trust by demonstrating ethical standards, honesty and consistency.Inclusion with Equity
We will challenge ourselves daily to champion fairness and accessibility for all people in our communities.Courage
We will take bold action to address the important issues affecting our communities.
Goals
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Credibility
To model honesty and courage by implementing the Civic Engagement Agenda, which endeavors to create vibrant communities by uniting people and investing resources.Conviction
To embed inclusion with equity within the walls of CCF and throughout the relationships we forge.Capacity
To achieve sustainability by building a healthy, agile and donor-centric business model.Communication
To ensure CCF’s relevance in the communities we serve by executing thoughtful, responsive strategic communication plans.
Our next chapter
Our vision and expertise earned over more than four decades also makes Coastal Community Foundation uniquely qualified for community leadership. Together with our donors, we’ve been investing financial resources in our region for generations and continue to do so with measurable impact. But after turning outward to our communities to listen to residents and stakeholders from all walks of life throughout our region, we know not all problems can be solved with dollars alone.
In 2017, we started a journey to expand our service by stepping firmly into the role as a community convener. This work aims to connect all forms of capital — social, moral, intellectual and reputational — to remove the barriers standing in the way of equitable, community success.
To learn more about how our next chapter will specifically address community issues, read our Advocacy plans.