Dripping Springs Community Foundation looks to grow

By Cady Russell

The Dripping Springs Community Foundation has been successfully funding projects in the greater Dripping Springs area for 22-years. And what was grown by former DSCF Board President Susan Santamaria is now being taken over by new Board President Robert Musgrove—who has high hopes to bring the foundation to new levels in serving the community.

Newly seated DSCF Board President Robert Musgrove. Photo by DSCF

“I want to be DSCF to become the preeminent resource and entity in northern Hays County for charitable giving,” Musgrove said. “And more importantly, for community development to work and partner with our fellow nonprofits in the area to strengthen the community and to help those people in achieving their goals.”

Musgrove thanked his predecessor, Santamaria, for her service. “Susan strongly grew DSCSF over the past 14-years and served an integral part of building the structure and formality that was needed by the foundation. We became much stronger through her leadership and presence,” Musgrove said.

Musgrove is not new to the community foundation sphere. Before moving to Dripping Springs, while living in central Minnesota, he was on a community foundation board for 17-years, and their president for 10.

“I guess you can say this is not my first rodeo, I have seen a lot of what can be done, and I’ve learned a lot.” Musgrove said. “I hope to effectively bring that knowledge bear to help grow DSCF and our community service.”

According to Musgrove, there are an estimated 30-plus nonprofit organizations in the Dripping Springs area, all capable of impact on the community, and DSCF wants to keep them healthy.

“I think if we are a true partner in the nonprofit community and we help them, especially those ones who need our help, strengthen themselves as organizations, we’ll empower them to meet the needs that they see,” Musgrove said. “We’ll develop, improve the whole community because of that.”

And important part of DSCF’s growth will be its reaching out to new donors, and to make its presence better-known in the Dripping Springs community.

Musgrove stated that the foundation not only serves as funding source for non-profits, but also as a valuable resource for “potential donors who wish to make a difference in the Dripping Springs community.” By funding DSCF, donors can fund a broad spectrum, and help several non-profits.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know who we are. So, we need to address that challenge. How do we make ourselves have a greater public presence so that people know who we are and what we do,” Musgrove said. 

In its most common form, area non-profits submit grant applications to DSCF, and those selected receive community grants from DSCF. Grants are awarded on a semi-annual basis, and proposals are accepted on or before July 31 and January 31 of each year.

“When you have a group that comes to you and says, we see a real need here in the community we want to do this project. We agree with that. And we give them the resources, and sometimes the guidance to carry that out,” Musgrove said.

For example, DSCF works as a fiscal sponsor for developing organizations who have not reached non-profit status yet, such as the Dripping Springs Skatepark.

DSCF also awards “The Dripping Springs/Wimberley Girl Scout Scholarship Fund,” which awards graduating Girl Scouts who have been committed to the fundamental principles of Girl Scouts; and the “Dripping Springs Heroes Fund,” which was specifically created to manage needs for first responders in the community.

To help better understand DSCF, Musgrove explained. “Well, [DSCF] is a charity. But an important distinction is that we don’t limit ourselves to giving money to any-one-specific cause. We raise money. We then build a fund-of-money that we can use to help other nonprofits in the community address their critical needs,” Musgrove said. “And that’s how that works, we maintain a large bank account, and on a regular basis, we call nonprofits in the community and say, ‘Hey folks, we have some money to give out. What needs do have? What needs in the community do you feel need to be addressed?’ And we give them a financial leg to help people in the community help improve the community.”

Musgrove believes that this important distinction can provide a potential donor a means to disperse their donation more evenly throughout the Dripping Springs community. DSCF’s initial roots can be traced to this concept.

In 1997, an art show called the Gathering began in Dripping Springs, which raised money for the DS Community Library. And by 1999, members of the group began to feel that funds raised should also go to other community organizations, and thus the DSCF was created. By the time the Gathering had run its course–  $140,000 for the library, $91,000 of which was under DSCF, and about $30,000 for the Pound House.

“[DSCF] means to me that we have a group of people who believe in Dripping Springs, want to develop this community, and strongly want to improve the quality of life here,” Musgrove said. “In various ways, the foundation is a vehicle for people to take their passion and express it in a way that affects the community in a positive direction. I know want to take that message and deliver it to the people who live here and potential donors.”