COEUR d'ALENE — Giving away money is easy.

"But giving it away so that it really makes the biggest impact — philanthropy — that’s a learned skill. Philanthropy is a learned process," said Steve Burns. "Part of our mission is to help teach philanthropy, to introduce people to philanthropy, to involve people in as much philanthropy as possible. You get to see, 'This is what it's really like.'

"I think it's a journey, and everyone is on a different journey."

Burns is the new president and CEO of Idaho Community Foundation, a nonprofit public foundation with the goal of enriching the quality of life throughout Idaho. It combines people and resources to make an impact in each of Idaho's 44 counties.

“We were pleased that Steve accepted our offer," Idaho Community Foundation Executive Board member Heidi Rogers said. "He was our No. 1 candidate."

Burns grew up in Connecticut. He attended the University of Connecticut as an undergraduate student and obtained a master’s degree at the University of Maryland. Burns holds advanced degrees in business administration and conservation biology and sustainable development.

Before assuming the role of Idaho Community Foundation CEO on Jan. 1, he ran Zoo Boise for more than 20 years. He then went to Salt Lake City to run the Hogle Zoo for more than three years.

"It was great; I really enjoyed my job. It just felt like it was time to do something else," Burns said during a visit with the Coeur d'Alene Press. "Being in Salt Lake reminded my wife and I of how much we wanted to be in Idaho. We're glad to be here."

He said he is long familiar with the foundation, having opened a fund for the zoo in about 2003.

"I knew it was a great organization," he said.

Through Idaho Community Foundation, people of all income levels can make a difference in their communities; Individuals, families, businesses and other nonprofits can establish temporary or permanent funds to support the causes they care about the most.

The foundation helps philanthropists with the complex work of allocating funds and donating to specific causes the benefactor wants to support. It also serves as a monetary matchmaker, helping connect those who want to give with charities that would most benefit from those funds, if benefactors simply want to donate funds to the foundation to distribute for them.

"We're helping to maximize the return for these nonprofits," Burns said. "Most of the people who are coming to the Idaho Community Foundation are looking to say, 'How do I make a lasting difference?'"

The state is split into four regions: North, East, South Central and Southwest. Each has a regional panel of local people who know the area and the organization, and they help educate the foundation about the needs in that region. Regional councils make recommendations to the foundation's board of directors about how to most effectively distribute funding.

Burns said the foundation is planning to hire two staff members for the North Region. It's also working to hire someone for a stewardship role.

"They know the people who are the donors and the fund-holders and they know the nonprofit community," he said. "Part of their job is to make those connections."

Since 1988, the foundation has given away about $150 million, with $20 million of that money going to the North Region.

"We're going to be here forever," Burns said. "We know Idaho. We know all the issues. We know all the players. If this has been your home and you want to make a lasting difference for the place you call home, then we can help you maximize that impact."

Info: idahocf.org