Winston Churchill once said that one must know and understand their history in order to truly comprehend who they are and where they will be going in the future. The High Point Community Foundation has a rich and colorful history that has been engineered by men and women of great vision, strong leadership, and an enduring love for their community. Over the past seventeen years, nine of which have passed since the first staff was hired and the office was established, the initial vision has grown into a robust and rapidly growing organization that is dramatically impacting the entire community of High Point. Those who first saw the vision, who struggled to keep the flame alive in the early years, will always be remembered as the architects of this ambitious endeavor that will continue to change lives for generations to come.
The genesis of the High Point Community Foundation can be traced back to when Jim Morgan, a local attorney and community leader, was serving as the President of the North Carolina Jaycees and later as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly. During this time he traveled extensively around North Carolina and became impressed with the work of the Community Foundations. In 1990 Morgan and Jim Millis, Sr., a well-known High Point philanthropist, agreed to serve on the Duke Energy Scholarship Interviews Board. At this event they met Bob Sailstaid, former Director of Development at Davidson College, who was a strong advocate for the establishment of Community Foundations. During the course of the day, both Morgan and Millis became intrigued and excited about pursuing the Community Foundation concept in the High Point community.
Upon returning to High Point, Morgan began work on the legal paperwork and together with Jim Millis, Sr. began to educate the leaders of the community. It has often been said that the most important work of the Foundation was undertaken in the years spanning 1990-1997, at which time both Morgan and Millis endeavored to keep the idea alive. They educated the local leadership and the fruit of their labor was evidenced in the strong support they continued to build. Men such as Phil Phillips, George Erath, Ed Pleasants, P. Hunter Dalton and Charles Odom joined their ranks. By 1997, approximately $600,000 had passed through the Foundation and it became apparent that the High Point Community Foundation’s time had come.
In the fall of 1997, Morgan was in his office working late on a Friday evening, when he received a phone call from Jim Millis, Sr. Millis very succinctly stated that he and his wife, Jesse, had decided to donate an unrestricted gift of $5,000,000.00 to underwrite the establishment of an office and staff for the High Point Community Foundation. As legend has it, the only words that escaped Morgan’s lips were a breathless, “Wow.”
Later in the Fall of 1997, the Foundation’s first Executive Board began meeting and consisted of Jim Morgan, Chairman; Bill McGuinn, Vice-Chairman; Jim Millis, Sr., Investment Chair; Charles Odom, Treasurer; Bill Horney, Development Chair; Charlie Greene, Secretary; Phil Phillips, Personnel Committee Chairman; Nido Qubein, Public Relations Chair; and George Erath, Grants Chairman. After months of discussion with other Foundations, it was decided that the High Point Community Foundation should remain local, hire an Executive Director, and not affiliate with other local or statewide Foundations.
Paul Lessard was hired as the first Executive Director in 1998. He and Morgan, the First Chairman, immediately went about the business of starting a Community Foundation from the ground up. His first weeks were spent meeting with Community Foundations throughout the state to observe and emulate best practices. The first office was set up in the 4th floor offices of Phil Phillips’ First Factors Company, 101 S. Main St., High Point, NC. Lessard is presently serving as the Foundation’s President.
Lessard, Morgan and Horney immediately began speaking tours that took them all over High Point. In the first year the trio spoke over 100 times to educate, inspire, and rally support. Horney and Lessard began making development calls and within the year, they had the entire Board of Trustees personally invested in the Foundation. Morgan and Lessard began working in earnest on the infrastructure of the Foundation and this work was both overwhelming and encouraging at the same time. Within two years, the Foundation had passed the $8,000,000.00 mark and the second employee was brought on board to assist Lessard.
The first Annual Grants Program was established in 1998 with a bold move that emphatically stated that the Foundation’s doors were open for business. The amount distributed to 20 nonprofit organizations serving the Greater High Point Community was $100,000.00. This historic distribution was a very clear signal to the community that a new resource for “meeting the unmet needs” of the community was now available and this courageous move was and continues to be a tremendous testament of the faith, vision, and support of the entire Board of Trustees. The Grants Committee was chaired by George Erath, a widely respected community leader who brought credibility and integrity to the process. One of the first grants made went to the High Point 2009 Project which underwrote a literacy program for local High Point Elementary Schools that were struggling with their EOC scores. In this partnership with the Guilford County School System, literacy teachers were brought in to instruct local teachers how to most effectively teach reading to their children. The results were overwhelmingly successful and the project went on to be adopted throughout Guilford County and became universally known as the High Point Plan.
In 1999, the Foundation established the Philanthropist of the Year Award to recognize those individuals and/or families who had most impacted the state of local philanthropy through their giving and leadership. The first award went to Jim and Jesse Millis and over the years other recipients included Bill Horney, George Erath, Marsha and Jack Slane, Nido Qubein, David Hayworth, Yogi Yarborough, and Bob Rankin.
As time passed and the Foundation continued to grow the Investment Committee became an increasingly important factor in the Foundation’s future. In 2002 Jim Millis, Sr. relinquished his Chairmanship of the Investment Committee. A.B. Henley was appointed and brought a strong array of financial and investment skills to this most important position. Millis remained on the Executive Board where his leadership and wisdom remained a valued resource to the Foundation. Over the course of three years, the asset management of the Foundation was taken over by the partnership of Wachovia Charitable Funds and Calibre. Mike Joyce of Wachovia and Mike Fisher of Calibre became key players in the formation of an investment platform that has since become one of the strongest of its kind in the industry.
By the year 2003, the assets had surpassed $12,215,897.00 when Morgan turned over the Chairmanship of the Foundation to Nido Qubein, who served two years. Qubein, upon being named President of High Point University, passed the Chairmanship to Bill McGuinn.
A sad and defining year for the Foundation was in 2004 when Jim Millis, Sr. died after a courageous fight with cancer. His eulogy was delivered by Lessard in a standing room only service at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church that was a testament to Millis’ impact upon the community, the state, and the entire country. It had been decided by the Millis family that their private foundation would be rolled into the High Point Community Foundation for the establishment of four Donor Advised Funds for Jim Jr., Bill, Emily, and Molly. This transfer of wealth, not only brought tremendous assets into the Foundation, but also began a new era in the history of philanthropy in the Millis family. This momentous move pushed the Foundation into the $50,000,000.00 range and carved the Millis family name forever into the history of the High Point Community Foundation.
By the spring of 2007, the Foundation’s assets totaled approximately $60,000,000.00 and over the nine years since the establishment of the Foundation Annual Grants Program over $1,800,000.00 has been given in Unrestricted Grants to more than 150 nonprofit organizations. The Donor Advised Funds have given in the same time span over $16,000,000.00 to thousands of nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and the World.
During the 2006-2007 period there was a very substantial expansion on the Administrative side with the purchase of Blackbaud software, the leading provider of software and services for nonprofit organizations.
One enduring constant that has always sustained the Foundation and provided its strength and vision is the Board of Trustees, who have brought their collective wisdom and generosity to a great endeavor that began as a conversation so many years ago.
The future of the Foundation continues to be bright with the continued momentum of both giving and earnings which will propel the Foundation closer to the $100,000,000.00 threshold by the year 2010. High Point has always been able to “meet the unmet needs” of our community thanks to those who dared to dream and who were willing to make those dreams become reality.
DREAMERS OF THE DAY
“All men and women dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity.
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they may act their dreams with open eyes to make them possible.”