The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Community Foundation could eventually take over the system
By Mark Reaman
An extensive Crested Butte town council discussion over how to allocate town grants to local non-profits took place during the ski season. While no immediate changes are forthcoming, the council will watch how the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley (CFGV) overseeing similar grants for Mt. Crested Butte works this year while having further discussion about the purpose and strategy of town providing such grants.
Crested Butte has at times funded some local nonprofits as a regular line item in its annual budget but that has changed and now a granting process is used. The grant budget fluctuates and in 2024 the budget was $400,000 while in 2025 it is $275,000. That includes $175,000 generated each year through the town’s nicotine tax with the rest basically coming from the general fund.
“I wouldn’t say we are great at this granting process,” said town manager Dara MacDonald, who had outlined in a memo the potential to turn over the process to the CFGV. “Mt. Crested Butte has made the decision to do that this year. We could streamline the process but how much control does council want to maintain? There is a lot to explore. We wouldn’t move to that until 2026 at the earliest if council decides on that direction.”
CFGV executive director Lauren Kugler said the organization could customize how the process is conducted for each municipality.
Councilmembers Gabi Prochaska and Kent Cowherd represent the council on the current grant committee. They were split on the possible direction.
“I’m not hugely in favor of this,” said Prochaska. “We have a context for the grants, and I think it would take much more time for the Community Foundation to understand that context. We look rigorously at all the applications, and I like the fact we have good discussions over the requests. I love the Community Foundation and what they do but I really appreciate the local context with these grants.”
“I sort of have an opposite view,” said Cowherd. “I like the regional approach and the fact there would be less subjectivity. Our process is a little flexible, but I like that the Community Foundation can customize the process for us. So, while the Foundation may not understand some of the local benefits of the nonprofits as much as we do, and it would cost town some money, overall, I support the idea of moving in that direction.”
“We will learn a lot this year with our partnership with Mt. Crested Butte,” said Kugler. She said cutting down on the number of applications a nonprofit must fill out would be a big benefit to those organizations.
“I’m comfortable with the elected body dealing with strategies instead of going into the details of the applications,” said mayor Ian Billick. “Do we really understand the complexity of philanthropy?”
“I feel like the Community Foundation is amazing, but we are Crested Butte funky, and I want to keep it Crested Butte funky,” said councilmember Mallika Magner. “I’m not sure a committee outside of CB would understand that nuance. This is something we put out to the community that reflects our values.”
“I also think the council as elected officials have a good sense of the nonprofit applications,” added councilmember Anna Fenerty.
“I’m not sure what problem we are trying to solve,” said Prochaska who mentioned that the money paid to the Community Foundation to provide the service would take away from the actual grant funds. “These grants aren’t huge, but they allow some groups to experiment with things. We support local nonprofits, and this is sort of egalitarian philanthropy.”
Councilmember Beth Goldstone said she would appreciate some feedback on the idea from the nonprofit community.
Council had a long discussion over the philosophy of the grants and that discussion is expected to continue.
“We need clarity on why we are doing it,” said councilmember John O’Neal.
Council will monitor the process with the Mt. Crested Butte grants.
