Caring 4 Community

Manging Director JD Thompson

C4C

It all started with a few buddies and I throwing cornhole in the backyard. We heard about a local teacher in need and thought what could we do to help her. So we said “hey we can hold a cornhole tournament”. We sewed bags together and made homemade boards but we were able to raise a little over $2,000 for her and her family in that first tournament. Then it just took life from there.

Caring for Community has been engaging with the people of our community since 2010. What started as a one-time event in the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor has grown into a locally focused charitable organization that has been a part of raising nearly $120,000 in the last 12 years to support families and organizations in our own backyard. We believe that the local community is best cared for by those within the circle of where they live, work and play. We work within our community to host fundraising events based on the growing sport of Cornhole.

What do you do as a leader/organization passionately pursue in the course of daily business to serve the clients and/or community?

Personally, I’m passionate about my family and my faith. The key to both of those things is relationships. I am consistently pursuing intentional relationships everywhere I go. The basis of the intentionality is driven out of sincere care for people. I think that is what attracts people to C4C and the things we are doing. It has attracted a great leadership team that helps keep us running, all those folks that actively support us, do it because they are like minded and want to make an impact in the lives of those around us.

What innovation in process, thought or product has led to recent growth or sustainability?

Cornhole by itself has experienced huge growth in the last few years. When we first started hosting tournaments you couldn’t say “cornhole” out loud without getting strange looks. Now people are watching the best in the world on ESPN regularly. Technology in the form of software applications have had a big influence with the growth. It has certainly helped spread the word of events and make tournaments accessible to much wider audience. Of course with that comes additional competition. Each weekend these days there are 2 or 3 cornhole tournaments and players get to choose which one they want to support. Those choices are often based on location, including the venue, they include prizes up for grabs (which is becoming a big deal). We have to find a way to be different. When you are running tournaments where the goal is to raise as much money only to give it all away there is a tough balance there. We pride ourselves on value and the satisfaction and history of who we support. We incorporate additional fund raising opportunities within the framework of a tournament to be the best stewards of funds people entrust us with.

How has your building or managing philosophy served you well in our current economy?

It can be a real challenge in today’s economy running a charity. On one side we are asking people to support us financially in a time of uncertainty of markets and businesses. On the other side we are committed to supporting others who are in need. This is where it really gets back to our roots of great relationships and transparency in what we are trying to do. We have a core group of sponsors that trust us and are behind us whatever we support and we are always trying to grow that list.

What are you most excited in the future of your organization?

For years, the operations of C4C was pretty limited to my own availability. The number of tournaments we could run to support the needs of the community was at the mercy of my own bandwidth. Considering, I’m a dad of three very active kids, work full time as a Program Manager for a local Defense company and have tons of other things drawing my attention, there were lots of opportunities that we just couldn’t support. Recently, we have had some really high capacity volunteers that have bought into the heart of C4C. We have formed a formal council that helps us manage our schedule, our goals and hold me and all of us accountable. We’ve named a Director of Operations, Coordinator of Technology and Coordinator of Community Relations as well as a Leadership board and Community board to help expand our footprint. For the first time in years, C4C has a real plan and a team ready to execute.

What is the best advice, as an expert in your industry, you think every viewer should know?

People are always watching the decisions that you make. As a leader, especially one that is so dependent on the support of others, you have to show that what you prioritize reflects what you believe and vice versa. We will never compete with cornhole tournaments that offer $10,000 first prize payouts, mostly because I could never justify having that much money available and not giving it away to someone who needs it, but I have to understand that’s not my priority. My priority and my responsibility is to care for those that we can help and do everything we can to rally those around us to do the same.