Hartford Foundation Wins Award for Excellence in Communications

March 2012

The Council on Foundations has announced that the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is a 2012 recipient of a Wilmer Shields Rich Award for effective communications efforts to increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs.

The Hartford Foundation received the Bronze Award in the annual reports category for its 2010 annual report, Creating Brighter Futures, which focused on the Foundation’s 25-year, $30 million initiative to improve school readiness and success in early grades for Hartford children. The award – one of 12 awarded out of 140 entries in four categories – will be presented during the Council on Foundations Annual Conference, April 29-May 1, in Los Angeles.

“The Brighter Futures initiative lent itself to compelling stories and great photos,” said Donna Jolly, vice president for communications and marketing at the Hartford Foundation.  “It was an opportunity to demonstrate the personal impact a system-changing program has had on the lives of countless children and their families. In addition, the stories of our donors are always inspiring and a joy to tell.”

The Wilmer Shields Rich Award for Excellence in Communications is named after the woman who served as executive director of the National Council on Community Foundations (now the Council on Foundations) from 1957 to 1968.

“The Wilmer Shields Rich Awards program recognizes those who have excelled in the field of philanthropy, as well as continually defining new, innovative ways for grantmakers to communicate with the public and express creativity,” said Evelyn Gibson, the council’s director of awards programs. “Congratulations to the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving on receiving this honor for being a leader in the philanthropic sector.”

The Council on Foundations, formed in 1949, is a nonprofit membership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations. Members include more than 1,700 independent, operating, community, public, and company-sponsored foundations and corporate giving programs in the United States and abroad. The council’s mission is to provide the opportunity, leadership, and tools philanthropic organizations need to expand, enhance, and sustain their ability to advance the common good. For more information, go to www.cof.org.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improving the quality of life for area residents.  The Hartford Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families and in 2011 awarded grants of more than $28 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations. For more information about the Hartford Foundation, and its strategic plan, Accelerate Success, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.