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CGR at 100: A Remarkable Story | PDF
Our Distinguished History
Founded in 1915, CGR has been delivering expert support to the public, nonprofit and private sectors for a century. Originally, we were incorporated as the Rochester (NY) Bureau of Municipal Research, and were established by founder George Eastman with a mandate to “get things done for the community” we call home. Although our passion for delivering promising solutions has never changed, both the geographic area and clients we serve have broadened dramatically. Today we have a national reach and can be found working with a diverse range of agencies, organizations and communities.
Why Nonprofit?
In an arena served almost exclusively by for-profit consultancies, CGR stands apart. Since our founding, we have operated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, a status that insulates us from political bias and holds us accountable to our clients’ true shareholders – the communities they serve – positioning them as more desirable places to live and work.
Just like our clients, we’re in the business of making a difference.
Join us in supporting the Fund for the Public Interest
The challenge of sustaining a legacy takes energy, vision and you!
At CGR, we can provide the first two, but we need your generous support to "get things done for the community," which was the heart of George Eastman's vision for the Center for Governmental Research more than a century ago.
Our Fund for the Public Interest remains our most important vehicle for maintaining Eastman’s legacy. Your support is essential. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CGR applies a portion of our revenues and all of our philanthropic support to collaborative research and implementation work on the most pressing issues our community faces.
Since 2000 and with your generous support, the Fund has committed more than $2.1 million to projects on educational opportunities, childcare subsides, developmental disabilities, community indicators and veterans’ services.
In the past year alone, your partnership has enabled CGR to invest in critical research, data and planning efforts focused on:
- Improving attendance at summer learning programs in the Rochester City School District;
- Supporting outcome measurement for the Rochester region’s “cradle to career” pipeline; and
- Partnering with the City of Rochester to independently evaluate its Civilian Review Board process and the responsiveness, transparency and effectiveness of addressing public concerns.
None of this would have been possible without your continued support. Each year, an investment in CGR’s work affirms Eastman’s vision – that a great community can be made even greater through a more engaged populace and more informed decision making.
As we close another remarkable chapter in Eastman’s experiment, we look ahead to 2018 and new initiatives to strengthen, inform and lift our community.Your support is essential to help us to sustain Eastman’s vision and continue to invest in those projects that mean so much to our community.
We are deeply grateful for your support of CGR’s work, your commitment to the vision of an ever-greater community, and your belief in the power of an idea launched on a spring afternoon in 1915 – one that still drives us today.
Please join us in supporting the Fund for the Public Interest by clicking here.
Since CGR is a nonprofit organized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, contributions to the Fund for the Public Interest are 100% tax deductible.