In 1943, during the darkness of World War II, Columbus businessman Harrison Sayre envisioned a better future. Together with community leaders, he established The Columbus Foundation as a dynamic partnership with a singular purpose: to create a thriving city for generations to come.
For 75 years, The Columbus Foundation has been the vehicle through which thousands of people have expressed their own ideals and optimism through philanthropic investment in our community. The Foundation is dedicated to careful stewardship of funds entrusted to us, and as our donors’ funds grow over time, their impact in the community is amplified.
For example, in 1975, the Foundation received a remarkable $7 million bequest from the late James Overstreet. Today, through careful investing, the James W. Overstreet Fund has grown to more than $23 million, even after awarding $23.5 million in grants. That’s powerful math for good.
The Columbus Foundation is able to respond to unforeseen community challenges, promote innovation, and invest in the future of our city thanks to the generosity of visionary donors like Overstreet who created permanent Funds for Columbus and broad Field of Interest Funds. As the James W. Overstreet Fund illustrates, the significant breadth of impact a single permanent fund has over time is felt generation after generation.
In honor of The Columbus Foundation’s 75th anniversary, we launched Once In A Generation, an initiative that works with donors to create new permanent funds and commitments to support the future of our community. The goal is to double our permanent endowment for future needs through the creation of Unrestricted and broad Field of Interest Funds through current or planned gifts. Each fund, named by its creator, will act as an enduring, effective, strategic investment in our community, and because funds will support public needs in perpetuity, donors will be remembered for their generosity a century from now, just as our early donors like Overstreet are remembered by us today.
Those of us who have lived, raised families, and prospered in Columbus now have the opportunity to make a Once In A Generation investment in our community to extend those advantages forward to future generations by creating a permanent platform for progress.
Already a number of generous community members have stepped forward to invest in the future of our community, including Joe Chlapaty, retired President and CEO of Advanced Drainage Systems and Columbus Foundation Governing Committee Member. Chlapaty’s eight-figure bequest is the largest unrestricted gift commitment in the Foundation’s 75-year history.
“The Foundation is in the best position to make those decisions,” Chlapaty said. “Who knows what the needs of a city will be years from now. How can I say that I should put something to one specific thing or another? To me, it makes the most sense to leave the flexibility with the organization that is going to manage the money.”
With the generosity of individuals like Overstreet, and support of friends and partners like Chlapaty, the vision of Harrison Sayre—seeing through the troubled cloud of war to a bright future—will continue to flourish for generations to come. Contact us if you are interested in learning more about Once In A Generation or other effective vehicles for strategic giving.
About The Columbus Foundation
The Columbus Foundation serves nearly 3,000 individuals, families, and businesses that have created unique funds and planned gifts to make a difference in the lives of others through the most effective philanthropy possible. The Columbus Foundation is Your Trusted Philanthropic Advisor® and is one of the top ten largest community foundations in the country.
