The Massachusetts Municipal Association in its summer 2012 edition of The Bulletin published an article on the Medfield Foundation, to look back on the MFi’s successful results after ten years of existence.
Medfield Foundation helps
generate $1.3M for nonprofits
Slightly more than a
decade after its creation, a
volunteer-run organization
known as the Medfield
Foundation has facilitated
the raising of more than
$ 1.3 million for roughly 20
local nonprofit entities.
A key benefit of the program
is that it spares volunteer
groups from the cumbersome
process of creating
a 501{c) 3 nonprofit entity
on their own, according to
Medfield Selectman Osler
“Pete” Peterson. And because
the Medfield Foundation’s
overhead has remained low
– the only notable expenses
are insurance and accounting
– only 1 percent of the
money that individual
groups raise goes to cover
administrative costs.
The Medfield Foundation
··facilitates a lot of things that
are at the edges.-· said Peterson,
an original member of
the organization’s steering
committee. ·”This is about
getting things done that otherwise
might not happen.”
Peterson said that the foundation
has been especially
useful for raising money for
school-related projects that
don’t fit neatly into any
school budget category, such
as improvements to the football
stadium. One fund,
called the “Field of Dreams:’
raised $600,000 for synthetic
turf; a second collected
$ 175.000 for bleachers.
Other organizations under
the Medfield Foundation
umbrella include the annual
“Medfield Night” fireworks; a
neighborhood art gallery: a
college-scholarship fund: the
local Medical Reserve Corps
unit: a Council on Aging
bus transit program for seniors:
and “Fest Fund”-
which enables the Parks
and Recreation Commission
to host concerts by teenage
musicians.
The Medfield Foundation
also honors outstanding
volunteers, many of whom are
teenagers, Peterson said.
When the foundation was
created in 2001, it was
touted as a means of alleviating the town ‘s reliance on
property taxes. Peterson described
the average annual
tax increase over the past
decade of 2.6 percent as
relatively modest, given that
three new schools were con-
structed during that period.
For more about the Medfield
Foundation visit
http://www.medfieldfoundation.org.
– Mitch Evich
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