DATE: Sunday, June 29, 1997                 TAG: 9706270201

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

NANCY WREN IS NEW AT COMMUNITY TRUST

The Portsmouth Community Trust has a new look: Nancy Wren.

For those who don't know her, she's the woman who made the successful Ladies Professional Golf Tournament (LPGA) here. She knows how to get the word out.

So we can expect to hear much about the community trust from this time forward.

``I'm really excited about what the trust can do,'' she said in a recent conversation. ``I want to be proactive and offer more than money to the community. We can offer resources.''

Nancy is fascinated by the mail that comes to the trust office every day.

``We have access to resources all over this country,'' she said.

Hundreds of foundations exist and offer grants for as many reasons. Nancy says she is amazed at how many there are and how many probably would give high consideration to Portsmouth projects.

``I would like to share information with all the nonprofit groups in the city,'' she said.

One thing she's already looking toward is a grant-writing workshop to help people understand what they need to put in a proposal and what grants they need to apply for.

The most exciting thing for nonprofit organizations, including the Community Trust, is the fact that over the next 40 years there will be a $10 trillion transfer of wealth in the United States.

Nancy said she will be working hard to build the asset base of the Community Trust, which now has only about $1.5 million.

``They say you need at least $5 million before you can be effective,'' she said. ``I want to grow financially, and I think if we become visibly involved in the community in significant ways, that will happen.''

If anybody can convince people to invest in Portsmouth, it's Nancy Wren.

``To promote philanthropy you have to be involved in the community, and I plan to do that,'' she said.

Her 14 years of experience with the LPGA tournament, which was started by the Portsmouth Service League, convinced her that Portsmouth people can compete with anybody at any level.

``Portsmouth people can outshine their competitors because they always go the extra miles,'' she said. ``There is something special here, a sense of community you don't find everywhere.''

Nancy said she has noticed citizens taking charge of things over the past year or so.

``I think people here are now convinced their problems can be solved, and they're doing it,'' she said. ``The success story here is that the people are out there solving more problems, not waiting for somebody else to do it.''

Most people no longer feel that things are out of control and beyond solutions, she said, and that attitude is impressive.

Nancy said she believes that attitude can do wonders toward convincing other foundations as well as local groups that their money is well-spent here.

You can bet that she will have one finger on the pulse of the community and another on the pulse of the resources to meet the needs of the community.

Portsmouth still feels like a small town, and I think that will make the future, she told me.

Last week Nancy spent a lot of time in Vision 2005 meetings just getting familiar with what's going on with the citizen planning committees that are working with city officials on the community and economic development plan.

``I really am excited about the opportunities,'' she said.

If you want to hear more about her vision, Nancy Wren said to tell you that she's available to speak to clubs and civic organizations. Call her at the Portsmouth Community Trust office: 397-5424.

And watch for fall seminars on grant writing and other funding resources, and others on estate planning.

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