Supporting the Industry
OBERLIN, Ohio – While the hard surfaces industry has bounced back from COVID-19, the pandemic has certainly done its part to keep the Natural Stone Foundation flying under many people’s radar. However, that doesn’t mean the organization hasn’t been moving ahead, setting goals, and initiating a major fundraising drive. The foundation was formed in 2017 as a strategy to acquire a grant from Google in order to expand the Natural Stone Institute’s “Use Natural Stone” promotional campaign. Thanks to the grant, the organization has been able to acquire on average approximately $9,600 a month in free Google Adwords. Joshua Levinson of Secaucus, N.J.-based Artistic Tile, and the foundation board’s outgoing president, explains that earning the credits requires an organization to be a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization – something the Natural Stone Institute is not.
“It’s a significant amount each month,” says Levinson. “So, we said if we could form a foundation, we could acquire those funds which could be used for promotional and educational efforts for natural stone.” While the initial effort focused on simply increasing the budget available for promoting the industry, organizers quickly realized a foundation would also be a good opportunity for individuals and companies to support a charitable organization tied to their industry and their livelihoods. “I’ve come to learn that it’s fairly common for trade associations to have a charitable arm,” Levinson adds. “It’s not such a new concept, but within the stone industry, it’s fairly new.” Since organizing, the foundation has been busy on two fronts: fundraising and developing firm plans to address industry concerns. Over that time, the organization conducted in-depth feasibility studies surveying a broad cross-section of the industry – including both large and small businesses, fabricators, quarriers, associate members and the international community.
“We’re really all in this together.”
Joshua Levinson Immediate past president Natural Stone Foundation
The foundation’s stated mission is “To serve and support the natural-stone industry by providing an array of services, products and authoritative information important to, and valued by, industry members.” At least at present, most of the effort being made to get the story of natural stone out to the public is going through what Levinson refers to as “the trades:” groups such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the American Society of Interior Design (ASID), and the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA). “Our plan is to get information in front of the decision-makers involved with those groups, and then use them further as ambassadors to spread the word,” Levinson says. Additional goals for the foundation came after the June TISE show, based on feedback the organization continues to gather.
As circulated, those goals include:
• funding key industry initiatives, including increasing natural stone’s market share; • supporting globally unified standards; • combatting confusion between natural and manufactured materials; • inspiring designers and architects to use more natural stone; and • cultivating future stone industry leaders.
Levinson says it’s also important to keep fluidity in the organization’s goals because things change over time. For instance, concern about radon in granite countertops has seemed to disappear – at least for the moment. Similarly, “maybe there’s something new that will surface that we need to address.” And, ideally, some issues will be resolved in the future, such as development of globally unified standards or sustainable production standards.
“By making this contribution, I’m continuing to do what I said I would do: contribute my time, talent and treasure to the industry that has put food on my table my entire life.”
Rob Barnes President and CEO, Dee Brown Inc. Diamond Level donor
in The organization’s second front – fundraising -- generated a great deal of effort last year, including both in-person and virtual strategic interviews with key industry stakeholders order to see if a public phase for a $1.1 million multi-year major-gift fundraising campaign would be possible. The response is overwhelmingly positive, particularly since funds raised will be directed primarily to webinars, scholarships, standards development, sustainability, and addressing workforce development. Through its 2021 meetings and discussions, the foundation has already raised $820,000 in donations and pledges, with eight companies joining the Leadership Society of the Natural Stone Foundation, an honor given to companies and individuals who have made sizeable contributions to the foundation. Those companies join Gary Mullard, founder of Northern Stone Supply, who jump-started the fundraising effort with the first $100,000 Diamond Level contribution. With a fundraising and advisory committee now in place, the foundation only expects to boost its fundraising efforts to a new level. The reasons a person might want to contribute to the Natural Stone Foundation are many, according to Levinson. They may include appreciation for what the industry has meant to an individual; to recognize a milestone event, such as a business anniversary; or to honor or in memory of someone within the industry.
“By making this contribution, I’m continuing to do what I said I would do: contribute my time, talent and treasure to the industry that has put food on my table my entire life,” says Rob Barnes, president and CEO of Dallas-based Dee Brown Inc. and a Diamond Level donor. The foundation is also launching a major gift campaign by securing pledges from current foundation board member, as well as many Natural Stone Institute board members. He adds that should the $1.1 million in donations be exceeded, the plan is to go back and evaluate the programs already in place to make sure they’re adequately funded, then research other areas that would benefit. Levinson says it’s been more of a challenge to reach the small- and medium-sized shop owners, a fact he blames on the on-going disruptions caused by the pandemic. “It’s been tougher for us to get to the small fabricators, and it seems a lot of the smaller companies weren’t at TISE back in June,” he concludes. “However, the foundation is about the industry as a whole. It’s fabricators and installers, importers, distributors and quarriers. For instance, if the fabricators face a shortage of skilled labor, it affects us all. “We’re really all in this together.”