Ripple Fund

Some community challenges take years of patient work. Others arrive without warning. The Ripple Fund helps Goosefoot Community Fund meet both: with the commitment to see things through and the flexibility to respond when something urgent lands.

We established the Ripple Fund in honor of Goosefoot’s co-founder Nancy Nordhoff, who passed away in early 2026. Nancy’s strategic, vital philanthropic work created ripples across every aspect of our island community. Likewise, the Ripple Fund will turn community priorities into concerted action. Your gift supports the places, businesses, and connections that make Whidbey feel like home, while building a foundation for whatever comes next.

You have a chance to double your gift because of a $50,000 challenge from several generous community members. Please donate by December 31, 2026!

Carrying Nancy’s ripples forward

Nancy Nordhoff understood that lasting change rarely comes from one grand gesture. It comes from steady, intentional investments that ripple outward for decades. In 1999, a conversation between Nancy and Lynn Hays in the Cash Store parking lot resulted in a commitment to preserve a vital community hub. With Linda Moore’s legal expertise, that vision rippled out and emerged as Goosefoot Community Fund.

The Ripple Fund carries Nancy’s spirit forward: seeing what the community needs, bringing people together, and making things happen. This is not a monument to the past, but a living tool for our community’s future.

Local knowledge. Lasting impact.

Goosefoot has a simple strategy to take on complex challenges: We identify a community need that is ours to take on, bring people and resources together around a well-considered plan, and stay with it until the need is addressed or another organization can carry the work forward.

Some examples of ripples Goosefoot has generated are:

• Bayview Corner: Goosefoot restored a deteriorating historic property into a community hot spot for local businesses and nonprofits, art shows, workshops, meetings, and other gatherings.

• The Goose Community Grocer: Goosefoot renovated a neighborhood grocery store, whose net profits are now invested right back into the local community in the form of programs, collaborative partnerships, and grants for nonprofits.

• Island Roots Housing: Goosefoot brought local leaders together and provided early staffing and support to help an independent affordable housing organization take root.

The Ripple Fund builds on this approach, giving Goosefoot resources to sustain what’s working and act when new needs emerge.

We know that community needs evolve. Goosefoot’s four pillars will guide where we focus the Ripple Fund each year:

• Preserve Great Places: Caring for the historic buildings, rural landscapes, and gathering spaces that help define and enrich our island.
• Addressing Community Needs: Working with partners to respond effectively to the critical challenges our neighbors face.
• Grow Local Businesses: Helping build the capacity and sustainability of local independent shops, farms, makers, and services that keep our economy rooted here.
• Connect Neighbors: Creating welcoming places and experiences where people come together across generations and backgrounds.

How the Ripple Fund works

• Community needs guide our priorities: Each year, Goosefoot assesses local needs and identifies where we can make meaningful progress within our four pillars. The Fund supports focused work while preserving the flexibility to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.
• A portion carries forward: The Ripple Fund is not fully spent down each year. A portion remains to build long-term readiness, so the next community priority doesn’t require us to start from zero.
• You’ll see what you set in motion: Each year, we’ll share what the Fund accomplished, what we learned, and what comes next. Your support makes you a partner in this work.

Drop a pebble. Start a ripple.

A gift to the Ripple Fund is an investment in our community’s ability to shape its own future. Whether you give $50 or $5,000, your generosity helps Goosefoot Community Fund bring people together, move good ideas forward, and stay ready for what Whidbey needs next. A multi-year commitment can help build that readiness over time.

The next ripple starts with you.

To discuss a multi-year commitment or including Goosefoot Community Fund and the Ripple Fund in your estate plans, please contact us at [email protected].

Goosefoot Community Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. EIN: 91-1960139.