From immediate community response to durable nonprofit infrastructure.
The Poston Foundation began in 2020 alongside hands-on Carolina Cares outreach in Columbia. The early work prioritized immediate needs: food, water, hygiene supplies, clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, and practical support for people facing homelessness or sudden hardship.
The next challenge was institutional: preserve the direct, practical character of the work while building the governance, fundraising, documentation, financial, digital, and program systems required for responsible growth.
My role
As Founder & Executive Director, I lead strategy and execution across governance, operations, fundraising, compliance, communications, program development, partnerships, and digital infrastructure.
What I built and coordinated
Board processes, organizational policies, internal controls, records protocols, and compliance infrastructure.
Grant narratives, budgets, capability statements, sponsorship materials, donor communications, and campaign workflows.
Carolina Cares operating materials, Essentials Kit model, volunteer coordination, and Poston Preserve planning.
Website redevelopment, structured public information, fundraising integrations, analytics, search optimization, and advertising planning.
Public governance, media, historical, and organizational information designed for donor and partner due diligence.
External-facing materials and relationship development for donors, sponsors, community stakeholders, and prospective partners.
Documented evidence
Public-facing sources distinguish historical activity from current programs and provide independent and first-party records of the work.
Why this work matters professionally
This is the clearest example of my operating style: identify what is actually needed, build the structure around the work, document it carefully, and create systems that make future execution more reliable. It combines executive leadership with hands-on implementation across functions that are often separated in larger organizations.
Evidence ledger
WACH: Carolina Cares in 2020
WACH independently reported on Carolina Cares assistance and Eric Poston's role in the effort. This supports the existence and nature of the early program; it does not by itself prove later aggregate volunteer or recipient counts.
Original WACH article ↗Current Foundation structure
The Foundation's official pages identify current leadership, 501(c)(3) status, program focus, and governance practices.
Aggregate-count boundary: the 50+ volunteer and hundreds-served figures are reflected in current professional materials and Foundation historical records. The WACH story is independent evidence of the underlying work, not an independent audit of those totals. See verification methodology →