The Green Needham Foundation Corporation is a Massachusetts not-for-profit corporation established in October, 2008. The Foundation was awarded tax-exempt status as a public charity under section 501(c)3 of the IRS code in September, 2009. The effective date of Green Needham Foundation's tax exempt status is retroactive to October 16, 2008.

The Green Needham Foundation's goal is to advance the energy and environmental sustainability of the community of Needham. In support of this goal,the Foundation aims to provide funding to:

• maintain and enhance sustainability education and outreach in the community
• advance specific projects in the community

To provide this support, the Foundation will seek:

• donations from Green Needham members, Needham residents, organizations and businesses
• grants from businesses, foundations and government sources

To date, any funding needed for the ongoing activities of education and outreach have been provided through out-of-pocket payments and contributions by a small number of Green Needham members. Because that is not a sustainable strategy for maintenance or growth, the establishment of the Foundation provides a means to broaden support for this work.

Similarly, although project work to date has been fortunate to receive initial support from several businesses, 501(c)3 status is a practical requirement for further support, as well as access to a far greater number of businesses, foundations and government programs.

We also anticipate that for selected complex projects involving multiple organizations, the Green Needham Foundation may serve as the focal point for fund raising and gran solicitation for the overall project.

A more detailed description of the Foundation's intended activities is below, as taken from our submission to the IRS. We welcome your questions, suggestions and, especially, your support. You may contact us directly at foundation@greenneedham.org.

• Jim Glickman, Clerk
• Michael Greis, President
• Susan McGarvey, Treasurer
• Eleanor Rosellini, Director
• Debbie Schmill, Director
• Wendy Surr, Director

The Green Needham Foundation Corporation provides support for initiatives and ongoing activities promoting and advancing the energy and environmental sustainability of the community of Needham, Massachusetts. The community is broadly construed, and includes but is not limited to residents, institutions, businesses, and the municipality itself.

Sustainability projects and activities may be carried out by the municipality, the schools, not-for-profit and community organizations, businesses and individuals. Many of these activities are executed or coordinated by members of the Green Needham Collaborative.

The Green Needham Collaborative (known in the community simply as "Green Needham) is a community-based volunteer group bringing together people and organizations within the town of Needham to build a more sustainable community through collaborative efforts on energy and the environment.

• Through Green Needham, individuals and organizations work together on projects that improve sustainability.
• Projects may be initiated, led and executed under the umbrella of the Green Needham Collaborative or by the Town of Needham, the Needham Public Schools or another community-based not-for-profit organization.
• Green Needham's focus in all cases is to ensure that the community is leveraging all its resources.

Green Needham has established itself as the visible public face of sustainability efforts throughout the community.

• It promotes and publicizes all significant sustainability projects, not just those it leads.
• Green Needham connects people, organizations and resources.
• It educates the community, not only by making people cognizant of how their activities use energy and natural resources, but also by highlighting and celebrating the growing number of people and organizations reducing their energy use and conserving resources.
• This promotion of new community norms is a key element in effecting the kind of behavioral change necessary to create a truly sustainable community.

All of the work is done by volunteers and/or staff of the organizations involved in a project. The volunteers may be members of the Green Needham Collaborative, other organizations or both.

The Green Needham Foundation expects to support this work through grants and donations. These grants and donations will most often take one of two forms:

• the purchase and direct provision of goods and services to a project or activity or
• the granting or donation of funds to an organization (governmental unit or not-for-profit) involved in carrying out the activity.

For selected complex projects involving multiple organizations, the Green Needham Foundation may serve as the focal point for fund raising and grant solicitation for the overall project.

Initially, and for the foreseeable future, the Green Needham Foundation does not expect to hire and pay staff to do project work.