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PrintEvents and milestones in Tulsa Community Foundation's history
December 1998-February 2010
December 1998
Tulsa Community Foundation (TCF) is formed by George Kaiser and 16 other local corporate and philanthropic leaders. Tulsa is the last of the 50 major metropolitan areas without a community foundation. Kaiser was also the first chairman of the board of trustees.
May 1999
Tulsa Global Alliance becomes the first nonprofit agency to establish an endowment fund with TCF.
May 1999
TCF recognizes its first supporting organization, the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF). GKFF’s focus is on breaking the cycle of poverty through investments in early childhood education, community health, social services and civic enhancement. TCF currently has 11 supporting organizations.
June 1999
Phil Lakin Jr. is hired as TCF’s first employee in the role of executive director. Lakin has been TCF’s only chief executive for more than 10 years. TCF assets totaled only $117,000.
June 2000
The TCF board of trustees holds its first annual board retreat. The majority of the retreat is used to set mission, vision and goals to ensure the short-term and long-term success of TCF.
August 2000
TCF partners with the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and Community Action Project of Tulsa County to sponsor the Partnership for the Availability of School Supplies (PASS), which distributes basic supplies to students at 45 high-need elementary schools in Tulsa Public Schools. For the 2009-2010 academic year, PASS served more than 22,000 students at 56 school sites in Tulsa and Union public schools.
October 2000
The Larry W. Brummett Foundation is established at TCF in memory of Larry Brummett, CEO of ONEOK, who passed away after a battle with cancer. The foundation assists low-income cancer patients with medical and living expenses while they are undergoing treatment. The Brummett Foundation is the first program at TCF that makes grants to directly benefit individuals, instead of nonprofit agencies.
January 2001
TCF launches the inaugural endowment challenge program to help nonprofit agencies grow their endowments and provide long-term sustainability for local charitable resources. A total of $290,000 is granted to nonprofit agencies in starter-kit grants (for those organizations without established endowment fund); $720,000 is awarded in challenge grants to agencies that successfully met their endowment growth goals. Participating agencies secure more than $1.65 million in contributions to endowment funds.
January 2001
TCF partners with TulsaPeople magazine to publish the inaugural Charitable Events Registry, providing a resource for Tulsa residents to find and attend nonprofit agencies’ fund-raising events. This partnership continues annually in TulsaPeople’s January issue.
February 2001
TCF convenes local oil and gas corporations to form the Heating Bill Assistance Fund, which grants $600,000 to local nonprofit agencies to assist in paying increasingly high utility bills. More than $300,000 goes to Tulsa Public Schools to offset increased utility operating costs.
May 2001
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group partners with TCF to create the first scholarship fund housed at TCF. The Dollar Thrifty Road Scholars Fund provides undergraduate scholarships for children of Dollar Thrifty employees. TCF currently has 33 scholarship funds and awarded more than $580,000 to 271 students for the 2009-2010 academic year.
September 2002
The McCurtain Community Fund is established, marking the first fund at TCF intended to solely benefit a community outside the greater Tulsa area. Funds are later established to benefit charitable causes in Pawhuska and Sperry.
October 2002
TCF joins the prestigious Philanthropy 400, ranked at No. 92. Published by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Philanthropy 400 is an annual national listing of nonprofit organizations with the greatest amount of contributions received for the preceding fiscal year. TCF’s first appearance in the 2002 listing placed it as second among organizations based in Oklahoma and third among community foundations nationwide. TCF has continually been ranked since. For 2009, TCF is ranked No. 1 among all community foundations and No. 22 among all nonprofits.
December 2004
TCF tops the $1 billion mark in total assets during the 2004 fiscal year.
February 2005
TCF begins coordinated community conversations that later launch the Step Up Tulsa! program. The program serves as a “call to action” for Tulsans and identifies critical needs to make Tulsa a successful 21st century region.
March 2005
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group partners with TCF to create TCF’s first employee disaster relief program. These programs (now nine corporations strong) assist employees of corporate donors in times of unexpected personal emergency or natural disaster. Employee disaster relief programs awarded more than $140,000 to 400 employees in 2009.
July 2005
TCF partners with the national Fund for Teachers organization and the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence to make Oklahoma the first state to offer grants to teachers statewide. To date, more than $1.4 million has been awarded to send more than 430 Oklahoma teachers around the world.
September 2005
Ground is broken on Tulsa’s first Educare center (a supporting organization of TCF) in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood. The state-of-the-art early childhood center provides education and care for 200 children (from birth to age 5) and their families with full-day, year-round early childhood education, family support services and ongoing medical care. The center opened in August 2006. A second Educare center opened in February 2010 near Hawthorne Elementary School in North Tulsa.
December 2005
Tulsa Beautification Foundation (TBF) is incorporated as a supporting organization of TCF. TBF was formed to solely support beautification and civic enhancement projects in the Tulsa region.
January 2006
TCF becomes the largest community foundation in the nation (by market value of assets), a position it has maintained since.
July 2006
TCF launches its second challenge grant program, focused on assisting nonprofit agencies with securing endowment contributions through bequests, charitable gift annuities and other planned gifts. TCF awards 56 challenge grants ($625,000 total) and 45 starter-kit grants ($183,000 total) in December 2008. Participating agencies corporately secure more than $7.6 million in planned gifts to benefit agency endowment funds.
November 2006
In partnership with Henderson Financial Group, TruNorth and 43 sponsors, TCF hosts the world premiere of “The Ultimate Gift,” starring James Garner, Abigail Breslin, Drew Fuller and Lee Meriwether. The film is based on a book by the same name, penned by Tulsan Jim Stovall.
January 2007
TCF produces “The Tulsa Spirit,” a one-hour documentary look at Tulsa’s history of philanthropy, as told by some of Tulsa’s best-known donors. The special airs on KOTV Channel 6.
December 2007
Following Tulsa’s ice storm in which thousands of residents went days without power, TCF establishes the Ice Storm Relief Fund to assist nonprofit agencies that provide relief and assistance during the storm’s aftermath. Grants from the fund total $750,000.
May 2008
The City of Tulsa kicks off the PlaniTulsa program. TCF donors contribute significant funds to update the city’s comprehensive plan.
September 2008
TCF launches the Planned Giving Partnership. Thirty local nonprofit agencies are chosen to participate in hiring a shared professional planned giving counsel. The Planned Giving Partnership recently increased to include a total of 40 local agencies.
November 2008
TCF purchases the $25 million bond essential to completing ONEOK Field, the new home of the Tulsa Drillers in downtown Tulsa.
December 2008
Annual grants from TCF (consolidated) to nonprofit agencies top $100 million for the first time. This level of grants to the community continues in 2009.
January 2009
TCF donors and the George Kaiser Family Foundation fund the creation of a master plan for the city parks departments. Working with two preeminent national consulting groups, stakeholders study both existing parks and facilities and suggestions for proper expansion based on national best practices.
January 2009
TCF serves as the facilitator for A Way Home for Tulsa, an initiative bringing together more than 60 local nonprofit representatives with city and county leaders. The purpose of the group is to design a more sustainable and collaborative process for providing permanent supportive housing services to end chronic homelessness in Tulsa.
April 2009
Working with other donors, corporations and foundations, TCF assists in bringing 82 Teach for America recruits to serve in Tulsa Public Schools. More than 150 Teach for America recruits will come to Tulsa over three years to work at the district’s highest-needs sites.
October 2009
TCF, with a grant from the Hillcrest Foundation, purchases horses from the Tulsa Police Department’s disbanded patrol unit. The eight animals are later given to nonprofit programs with equine programs through a competitive grant process.
December 2009
TCF partners with American Electric Power Foundation, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Tulsa Area United Way and Bank of Oklahoma to launch the Tulsa Community Challenge to benefit nonprofit agencies providing basic food and shelter security. More than $1 million is contributed by the public and program partners.
