Take a Community Survey

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan wants to learn more about how Baby Boomers are – or want to be – involved in their communities.

The organization funds environmental, arts and cultural, health and human services and community economic development projects across the region.

"We fund everything. We're a community endowment," says Anne Weekley, vice president of communications for the Community Foundation. "We're a public charity, so we raise money from the community and give grants back out to nonprofits and programs."

The group is one of 30 community foundations across the nation that the Atlantic Philanthropies organization has tapped to help gather information about Baby Boomers.

Weekley says that as Boomers retire, they are much more inclined than previous generations to be involved in the community some way — whether it's using their expertise to mentor, volunteering or becoming entrepreneurs. The Community Foundation will use the information to help gauge if there is potential to create a large-scale initiative focused around this generation.

"We want to look at what potential there is for the 50 and older, the first wave of boomers to be civically engaged," Weekley says. "What do they do now? Do they feel a need or obligation to be more involved in their community when they retire? What are the touch-points to motivate them to do a particular thing?"

To take the survey go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=171385963E70122