Philanthropy Roundtable’s Free to Give campaign elevates the voices of everyday Americans who have dedicated their careers to supporting those in need. Their work is made possible by the freedom of all Americans to give to the causes and communities they care about most.
The Woodard Family Foundation didn’t merely start a legacy, it laid the groundwork for a thriving community in Cottage Grove, Oregon. With a hospital and a library as its first seeds in the 1950s, the foundation has grown into a powerhouse of opportunity, supporting causes from health care and education to the arts and mental health among others.
Philanthropy Roundtable recently spoke to board member and fourth generation of the foundation, Dena Woodard-McCoy, about how the foundation’s family values of long-term impact, intentional giving and self-sustainability continue to meet the evolving needs of the Cottage Grove community. Woodard-McCoy also discussed why the freedom to give is vital to community foundations like theirs and why restrictions on giving would impact how foundations are able to address current needs in their communities.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: Tell us about the Woodard Family Foundation and what causes you support?
Woodard-McCoy: The Woodard Family Foundation is the eighth oldest family foundation in the state of Oregon, founded in 1952 by my great-grandfather, Walter A. Woodard. Today we are proud to have a fifth-generation member on our board with more coming and plans to keep the legacy of family philanthropic giving strong in the years to come.
Our Cottage Grove based foundation takes pride in continuing the long history of philanthropy within the community, which was a centerpiece of business and everyday life of my great-grandparents. Two early corporate gifts given in Cottage Grove, (one to the library in 1950 and then to the hospital in 1951) soon thereafter evolved into the idea of creating a lasting means for charitable giving.
This was the birth of our family foundation, which in our 70-plus years of giving, has awarded grants to a wide range of organizations. Some of our past achievements include the Cottage Grove Community Hospital (which was later replaced by PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center and Clinic), W.A. Woodard Library (now the Cottage Grove Library & Community Center), South Lane Mental Health, South Lane School District, Cottage Theater and many other agencies in the arts, education and youth programs.
Some of our philanthropic outreach is through board-approved discretionary giving which might encompass areas in and out of state where other board members may reside. Our primary giving is done with our founder’s intent of place-based philanthropy which keeps our board focused on our local community needs.
Q: What is the philosophy and history behind the foundation’s giving practices?
Woodard-McCoy: My great-grandfather, Walter A. Woodard, was one of Oregon’s early timber trailblazers finding success in the sawmill and logging industries located in Cottage Grove and surrounding areas. He and my great-grandmother, Dutee Woodard, were committed to helping create and sustain a community that gave opportunity to its citizens.
As one of the last independent lumbermen of Oregon’s heyday in large scale timber operations, my great-grandfather was at one time known as “the man who made Cottage Grove.” The foundation became a vehicle for him to continue a positive impact in his beloved community long after he closed his sawmill operations.
Q: What does philanthropic freedom mean to you and the Woodard Foundation?
Woodard-McCoy: As a family foundation we seek giving opportunities according to our values. Exercising that critical choice is philanthropic freedom. As a board we often reflect on our giving history as well as who we are today and where we see ourselves in the future. Those steps help us to continue making impactful gifts that align with our beliefs as well as the needs of our growing and ever-changing community. We endeavor not only to be an immediate solution to other’s needs but to help foster long-term impact and self-sustainability through our giving choices.
Being able to decide when and where to give has also allowed us to better focus our efforts on behalf of our recipients. Protecting donor intent and being able to recognize red tape that could potentially upend philanthropic giving is essential to maintaining the strength of charitable giving as a whole. Restrictions that thwart philanthropic freedom would severely hurt a board like ours which enjoys the choice to know where we could and want to be most impactful.
Q: What are some of the consequences of the government introducing red tape (new regulations) on charitable giving?
Woodard-McCoy: Red tape obviously gets in the way of good work being accomplished efficiently. Philanthropic giving should always maintain an element of joy at its core. When heavy-handed restrictions threaten the flow of charitable efforts the results are obvious: everyone loses. Thanks to Philanthropy Roundtable and the sector, we have collectively fended off much of what could have been a drag on the system.
Q: How has the foundation been able to uphold the intent of your great-grandfather, even in the fourth generation of leadership? When you’re making giving decisions, how do you keep your great-grandfather’s intent?
Woodard-McCoy: Our roots lie deep within the state of Oregon, literally. Our foundation sprung from the work ethic and success of our founder, a rugged individualist whose livelihood came from the timber and logging industry. Lately we have spent a great deal of time teaching the fifth generation about who the founder was: a man who believed in preparing for the future, making lasting community impact for the greater good of the community itself.
Simply stated, he wanted to foster independence in individuals so people could thrive in their community. He believed in creating good for the good of all. We are constantly going back to his very simple but strong principles: dream big, work hard, plant seeds that will flourish in the future and be community-minded. These were the values of our founder which are alive and well today in our intentional, place-based giving.
Q: When it comes to funding, what is the foundation most proud of and why?
Woodard-McCoy: Our foundation is greatly humbled and proud of our medical center in Cottage Grove, a place where our founder, my great-grandfather, made one of his first corporate gifts in the community. Today, the PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center and Clinic is a rival to the impact and influence my great-grandfather had 75 years ago with the first hospital in the same community.
With our family foundation’s careful investment of the initial seed money bestowed upon the early beginnings of the foundation, the then Cottage Grove Community Hospital of 1950 is now today’s state of the art health center serving not only Cottage Grove but surrounding rural areas that might otherwise be overlooked without this critical access hospital.
My uncle, and current board president, Casey Woodard, summed up one of our proudest moments in remarks on December 4, 2018 at the PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Medical Center and Clinic Annual Gala:
“The story of health care in South Lane and North Douglas Counties … does include writing, garnering bipartisan sponsorship and introducing federal legislation requiring the signature of the president of the United States. For the small, greater community of Cottage Grove … this was our tearing-down of a 35-mile proverbial ‘wall’ separating solvency (cost-based reimbursed) health care from, well, no local health care. For the small, greater community of Cottage Grove, this was our ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’ moment.”
The Woodard Family Foundation’s $100,000 grant toward construction of the PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Center has been a part of the community’s overall effort which helped create an $80 million economic impact, with employment of 155 people, annual payroll of $15 million and 75% of employees who reside locally in the Cottage Grove area.
Today the Woodard Family Foundation is ever-committed to the community which was its birthplace and one whose founder, Walter A. Woodard himself, once said in 1951 from the podium in front of the newly dedicated W.A. Woodard Library “I and my wife love Cottage Grove.”
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