Reminder

The Foundation staff are available to present information on the Foundation's programs and the health status of Central Louisiana to nonprofit groups, clubs and civic associations.

Please contact Kathy Gunn.

	Mission

Guiding Organizational Principles

The Foundation has defined how the work of the Foundation is to be done through its Guiding Organizational Principals:

Discerning	The Foundation seeks to understand the opportunities and barriers to community health.  Information obtained through listening, research, consultation, and evaluation will be shared with the community.
Effective	The Foundation will pursue its mission through practical yet innovative approaches to issues of community health that hold a reasonable expectation for success.  Its efforts will be shaped by our learning about issues and solutions and the practical realities faced by the community. The Foundation will evaluate the effectiveness of single projects, and measure the overall impact of its grantmaking against its philanthropic objectives.
Visionary	The Foundation will take into account both long term perspective and potential solutions of the community in its deliberation and decision-making.
Ethical	The Foundation is committed to upholding the highest values and standards that guide philanthropy. It will strive for consistency, fairness, responsibility, and accountability and will expect grantees to be similarly minded.
Autonomous	Decisions of the foundation will be independent of political pressures and vested interests at work in the community.
Catalytic	The Rapides Foundation serves as a catalyst to effect systemic change and to address needs and opportunities as they arise.  The Foundation functions by providing financial support, bringing diverse people together, facilitating broad dialogue and disseminating information.  Grantmaking activities are primarily initiative-based complemented by responses to community requests
Collegial	The Foundation works respectfully with grantees to address issues of community health.  The Foundation will promote cooperation, collaboration and the leveraging of resources with and among the nonprofit, public and private sectors.
Inclusive	The Foundation affirms its responsibility and recognizes the capacity and role of those who live and work in the community to participate in resolving issues.  The Foundation will engage the community in recognizing and solving matters of concern.