East Bay Community Foundation :: Turning wedding swag into nonprofit fund

May 14, 2008

Oakland Tribune, The Contra Costa Times, West County Times, Hayward Daily Review, Fremont Argus, San Mateo Times, USA Today (Cruise Version),

By Susan Young
Christina Klein and Eric Nelson eloped last October to Manhattan and then went on a three-state wedding reception tour that included a Wisconsin honky-tonk hoedown, a Seattle monster mash and a San Francisco bocce ball extravaganza.

Cha-ching on the wedding gifts.

But the Oakland couple didn't cash in on fine china and silverware. Instead, they asked their friends and family to donate money to their nonprofit fund set up through the East Bay Community Foundation to award grants aimed at Oakland elementary and middle public schoolchildren for multimedia and performing arts clubs.

"We didn't need more stuff," says Klein, 35, who owns her own marketing/ communications company. "Both Eric and I grew up being involved in the arts and it was a big motivator for us. We wanted to give students a compelling reason to stay in school. Our hope is that the people applying for the grant will choose a program not readily available."

It takes $10,000 to start a nonprofit fund, which is administered by the foundation. Klein-Nelson's Offstage Focus Fund requires teachers who receive the grant money to spend 20 percent on their professional development and the other 80 percent on resources for the club. Three $5,000 grants will be awarded this year and the couple have committed to donating 10 percent of their income each year to keep the fund going.

"So often in education, we do something just to do it instead of doing it well," says Nelson, 36, an Oakland schools administrator. "By investing in professional development, the grant not only impacts the kids for that one year, but for years to come by building on the skills of the teachers."

At first, the couple say, it was hard for their wedding guests to grasp the idea of donating gifts to start a nonprofit fund rather than giving a gift that could well end up at a garage sale.

"The arts touch all of our lives. People want to help others, but they just don't know how," Nelson says. "Donating to our nonprofit creates a legacy that impacts more than just us."


	Offstage Focus Fund To make a donation to Klein-Nelson's nonprofit fund, make checks payable to Offstage Focus Fund and send to: Offstage Focus Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation De Domenico Building 200 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza Oakland, CA 94612
	East Bay Community Foundation Serving Alameda and Contra Costa counties since 1928, the East Bay Community Fund stewards more than 400 charitable funds and endowments. To learn more about the foundation, log on to http://eastbaycf.org or call 510-836-3223.