SD Grantmakers Update
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May 2008 |
"Philanthropy is the rent we pay for the joy and privilege we have for our space on this earth."-- Jerold Panas |
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Welcome New SDG Member: Balsells Foundation
SAVE THE DATE
for the
2008 SDG Annual Conference: Mapping the Impact of San Diego Philanthropy
Thursday,
October 23
Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center
Details forthcoming. Sponsorships available (contact Nancy for more information).
In This Issue
Disaster Grantmaking
The recent tragic events in China and Burma/Myanmar have again brought disaster grantmaking to the fore. Click here for our resource page on this subject, which includes general information and resources as well as sections on philanthropic responses to the earthquake in China, cyclone in Burma/Myanmar, and last year's wildfires in San Diego. When we are asked by the media and colleagues about San Diego's
philanthropic response to a given disaster, we'd like to share your stories. Please share with us what you are doing.
Also, for those members who may want to help, the International Community Foundation is partnering with other international organizations on funds for both China and Myanmar relief efforts. Click here for more information on the China effort and click here for the Myanmar effort.
San Diego Workforce Funders Collaborative Releases First RFP
The San Diego Workforce Funders Collaborative (SDWFC) has released its first Request for Proposals (RFP). The SDWFC is soliciting proposals from qualified organizations for Career Education and Workforce Development Grants, focusing on the key industry sectors of Health Care and Life Sciences/ Biotechnology. Those interested and qualified are invited to submit a proposal as instructed in the RFP. The RFP is available on the San Diego Workforce Partnership's website. The submission deadline is 3:00 p.m., Thursday, June 26, 2008.
SDWFC is a public/private coalition of philanthropic foundations, employers and public entities interested in expanding and coordinating funding for career education and workforce development efforts in San Diego County. Founded in 2006, the SDWFC is designed to strengthen and expand sectoral workforce development efforts and workforce partnerships in the San Diego area. SDWFC is working to identify the region's workforce needs, create well-coordinated and well-financed solutions, and monitor regional success.
Current members of the SDWFC include the following: The California Endowment, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Alliance Healthcare Foundation, Invitrogen Corporation, WebMD Health Foundation, The Girard Foundation, and Kaiser Permanente. In addition, the SDWFC recently received a 3-year grant from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, a partnership of the Ford Foundation, U.S. Department of Labor, Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Hitachi Foundation, to strengthen and expand local workforce partnerships. Click here for more information on this national program.
New Research Report: Public Confidence in San Diego County Nonprofit Organizations
Do San Diegans have confidence in the nonprofit sector? Hear the results on the most comprehensive survey ever conducted on this topic. Join the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research for a community presentation of its latest research funded by The San Diego Foundation.
The Appreciated Sector: Public Confidence in San Diego County Nonprofit Organizations
Thursday, June 12, 2008
8:30-9:00am – Breakfast and networking
9:00-10:30am – Presentation of report, Q & A, panel and participant discussion
Location: Warren Auditorium, room 116 in Mother Rosalie Hill Hall which is home to the School of Leadership and Education Sciences on the campus of the University of San Diego. Click here for directions to USD.
Please RSVP directly to cvalencia@sandiego.edu. Direct questions to (619) 260-7442.
This topic is of special interest in a time when national polling says confidence in charities has slipped: click here for a related article.
Member & Community Partner News
YOUR ORGANIZATION COULD BE FEATURED HERE! Don't forget to let SDG know what's new with you, from grantmaking to awards, events, and more. We want to share the good news about all of our members. To submit an item for the newsletter, email nancy@sdgrantmakers.org.
San Diego Grantmakers has an unpaid internship opportunity available now: we are seeking part-time interns for Summer and Fall. Please forward this job description to any interested candidates!
SDG is also pleased to announce that we have hired our Funder Collaboration Consultant, made possible by the support of The California Wellness Foundation: Barbara Mandel Pache. Barbara has a significant background in facilitating health agency collaboratives, business development and planning, and working with vulnerable populations. She holds an MBA in Health Services Administration. She will be working closely with the Child Welfare Funders, Homelessness Working Group, Coming Home to Stay Project, and the San Diego Workforce Funders Collaborative.
Bank of America has introduced a new national website through which nonprofit organizations can research and apply for grants from nearly 70 foundations managed by Bank of America.
Congratulations to Patricia Sinay of Holland America Line and her family on their new baby, Marcos William Sinay Schmidt!
The International Community Foundation has moved to its new home at 2505 N Avenue, National City, CA 91950. Their phone number is (858)
Lisa Peterson of Invitrogen is taking on a new position with the company's global marketing group and will be turning over community relations to Heather Virdo. The Invitrogen Foundation will be managed out of Washington D.C. by Invitrogen Vice President of Government Relations, Janet Lambert.
On May 21, the Jacobs Family Foundation and Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation opened the Joe & Vi Jacobs Community Center, which is located behind Market Creek Plaza. The 78,000 square-foot space houses their offices, an art gallery sponsored by The Legler Benbough Foundation, a culinary academy and conference center (which will be the location for the 2008 San Diego Grantmakers Annual Conference!). Click here for a San Diego Union-Tribune article about the center.
The James Irvine Foundation initiative Communities Advancing the Arts (working in partnership with community foundations, including The San Diego Foundation) has a new online resource created for all who are working to grow local funding for the arts.
The San Diego Chargers recently announced $400,000 in scholarships, grants and computers donated to 16 students and nine schools. Click here for more information.
The San Diego Foundation has several positions open, including a Regional Outreach Manager for North County Inland. Click here for the job descriptions.
Social Venture Partners International has partnered with The Broad Superintendents Academy, whose mission is to identify and support new leaders for the US public education system. The Academy is a 10-month executive management training program designed to prepare CEOs and senior executives from business, non-profit, military, government and education backgrounds to lead urban public school systems. Participants keep their current jobs while attending The Academy, and all tuition and travel costs are covered by The Academy.
The Waitt Family Foundation has given $20 million to the Salk Institute to establish an advanced biophotonics center. Click here or here for more information.
The Women’s Policy Institute (WPI, a program of the Women's Foundation of California) is accepting applications until June 11 for its sixth class of fellows. The only program of its kind in the nation, the vision for the Institute is to increase the number of community-based women leaders in California who are actively involved in shaping and implementing policies that affect the health and well-being of women and girls. The program provides intensive advocacy and leadership training each year for a diverse group of up to 30 California women who are leading non-profit organizations and seek to act as a bridge between the needs of communities and policymakers. Click here for more information and to apply.
Legislative Update
Congress: House Committee Vote on Tax Extenders Package
Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee approved Chairman Charles Rangel’s (D-NY) fully offset $56.6 billion package of expired and expiring tax provisions. The Energy and Tax Extenders Act, H.R.6049, combines one-year extensions of tax provisions that expired in 2007 and will expire in 2008. Included in the bill is an extension of the IRA charitable rollover, at $465 million over 10 years. S.2886, the broader Senate version that extends expired and expiring tax provisions through 2009, will not be marked up in the Senate Finance Committee until June. It is important to note that the House bill includes one-year extensions while the Senate bill includes two-year extensions, through 2009. Although these and other differences will have to be worked out in conference, a final bill is expected to be sent to the President sometime after the November 2008 election. The COF Government Relations team does expect that all charitable giving incentives included in the final bill will be retroactive to 2008. Click here for the latest COF legislative updates.
California: Senate Hearing on A.B.624
On May 12, the California Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee (BP&ED) held a hearing on A.B.624, a bill that would require foundations with assets greater than $250 million to collect ethnic and gender data related to their governance and grantmaking practices. Nancy and representatives of the other California regional associations attended the hearing. With very good representation from foundations in the room, opponents of A.B.624 testified that: (1) the legislation is based on faulty report/data; (2) the bill may be unconstitutional; (3) the bill might discourage individual donors (with the Philanthropy Roundtable testifying that the bill has the potential to drive $23 billion in charitable giving out of CA); (4) the bill doesn’t address core issues of diversity and transparency of such; (5) slippery slope (where does it end?) and (6) philanthropy is not the place to address the shortcomings of government. Those testifying in favor of A.B.624 argued that: (1) taxpayers need to know how their money is spent; (2) small organizations do not benefit from foundation funding; (3) grantees are already required to report this information to government/foundations and (4) minorities and minority-run organizations need the money. The chairman of the committee did not ask for a vote on the bill and instead asked the foundations in the room to work with the authors of the legislation to determine amenable legislation to both sides, with the hope that the BP&ED Committee can vote on this new legislation by the middle of June. Check out SDG's Diversity in Philanthropy webpage (member login required) for related resources and media coverage.
Report from the COF Philanthropy Summit
More than 3,000 people gathered near Washington, DC at the Council on Foundations' Philanthropy Summit earlier this month to discuss philanthropy’s future with other leaders from around the globe and to take part in programs designed to enhance collaboration and impact. Nearly 20 SDG members were in attendance. For those who couldn't attend, here are some highlights and resources. We also asked SDG members to share their experiences and reflections.
- COF invited bloggers to cover the event; click here to read their session recaps and more (you can also watch video of some sessions). Other conference blogs included EPIP and New Voices in Philanthropy.
- Click here for the Chronicle of Philanthropy's "Conference Notebook."
- Several SDG members won Wilmer Shields Rich Awards for Excellence in Communications: The California Wellness Foundation and Change a Life Foundation each won Silver awards for Annual or Biennial Reports. TCWF also won Silver for Public Information Campaign, as did the International Community Foundation. The Hitachi Foundation won Gold and Silver awards in that category. Also, as we announced last month, Robert K. Ross, M.D., president and CEO of The California Endowment, received COF's Distinguished Grantmaker of the Year Award.
- Dixie Newman of the WebMD Health Foundation represented the San Diego Workforce Funders Collaborative on a panel where she discussed the collaborative's work and the state of the healthcare workforce, with fellow panelists Barbara Dyer (Hitachi Foundation), Andrea Taylor (Microsoft Foundation) and Margaret McKenna (Wal-Mart Foundation).
- Mary Herron of The Parker Foundation noted that she was moved by the Film and Video Festival, which featured films trying to create change through storytelling. She also attended a session where Bill Moyers foretold a new generation of volunteers: the soon-to-retire baby boomers. Additionally, Dennis Culhane outlined his new theories on addressing the needs of the homeless at a special reception held by the Melville Charitable Trust.
- Paul Thompson of BetterWorld Together Foundation commented that it was the best COF event that he had attended; he "found it valuable to experience the cross-fertilization of ideas between the various, corporate, family and community foundation members" and developed "several new and important relationships" at the conference. Paul was favorably impressed by "how far COF has come under the leadership of Steve Gunderson" in that it is "beginning to finally engage the various branches of government that impact our collective work as well as other key constituencies that need our attention." He hopes that more SDG members attend in the future.
- Next year's COF Conferences are February 1-3 in Indianapolis (Family Foundations), May 4-6 in Atlanta (COF Annual Conference) and October 5-7 in San Antonio (Community Foundations).
More Philanthropic Headlines
Community Foundation Giving Jumps 14 Percent, Study Finds
"Estimated giving by the nation's 717 community foundations rose 14 percent in 2007, to an estimated $4.1 billion, a new report from the New York City-based Foundation Center finds."
Tax Exemptions of Charities Face New Challenges
"Authorities from the local tax assessor to members of Congress are increasingly challenging the tax-exempt status of nonprofit institutions — ranging from small group homes to wealthy universities — questioning whether they deserve special treatment."
The Perils of Philanthrocapitalism
"For the past five years or so, venture philanthropy has been all the rage. Charity is out, social profits are in. Big NGOs have become the scourge of the entrepreneurial rich, who would rather start their own foundations and direct every dollar to their pet cause. Newspapers, magazines and books...have spotlighted this new generation of high-engagement rich, who want to give away their money the same way they made it: through the use of technology, statistical measurements, accountability and finance."
Former Congressman Seeks to Recast Grantmaker Organization as a Leader in the World of Philanthropy
"When Steve Gunderson took the reins of the Council on Foundations, he discovered an organization that everyone loved to hate. 'It had become almost the main game in town, to complain about the council,' he says. 'There was such negativity. I think the staff felt besieged, I think the board felt challenged, I think the field was suspect about the council.'"
Philanthropists Getting Younger by the Year
"The best age range to educate children about and involve them in philanthropy is five to 12, said Doug Mellinger, founder of Foundation Source Inc., a Fairfield, Conn.-based service provider for private foundations, at the annual meeting of the International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy."
Giving Away More Than Just Money
This is the text of a Marketplace Morning Report story concerning giving circles that aired on NPR on May 20.
Finding Their Voice: Grantmakers seek new ways to share stories
"While the MacArthur foundation's presence in Second Life is a cutting-edge communications tool, it is just one of many increasingly sophisticated techniques that grant makers are using to reach people who do not know much about them. At the same time, many foundations are rethinking their communications departments, hiring professionals from large public-relations firms and people with experience in interactive technologies — often referred to as Web 2.0 — that the grant makers hope will lend themselves to discussions that far outstrip anything a traditional annual report can provoke."
Bottom-line Philanthropy: Nonprofits find help developing pitches aimed at donors used to seeing results
This article highlights "a push in the philanthropic community to help nonprofits become more businesslike, understand the language of the private sector, and win the backing of influential, deep-pocketed donors."
Resources
Philanthropy's Awareness Deficit
How well do engaged Americans understand foundations and their impact? Not well at all, according to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive. More than half (56%) can’t name a foundation on the first try. Few can cite examples of foundation impact on their communities (15%), even fewer on issues they care about (11%). This survey digest is part of the Philanthropy Awareness Initiative.
California Immigrant Integration Initiative Report
This initiative, a project of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, has released a new report about the potential election impact of new immigrant voters that received press coverage across the state, including an article in the North County Times.
Proxy Season Preview 2008: Helping Foundations Align Investments and Mission
This guide from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and As You Sow helps foundations identify and learn about the hundreds of shareholder proposals on social and environmental issues relevant to foundation missions. The 2008 Proxy Preview highlights key issues, describes current social and environmental proposals, identifies key investors and organizations filing them, provides a list of companies and upcoming proxy votes, features new reports, and offers a resource section that will further enable foundations to learn more about what their
colleagues in the philanthropic community are doing to align investment and mission.
Click here for a related article.
New Grantcraft Guide: Grants to Individuals
What do grants to individuals accomplish? In this free guide, grant makers describe the elements of a well-crafted program and explain why scholarships, prizes, and other grants to individuals can have a profound influence on organizations, fields, or communities. Remember, GrantCraft materials are free to download, and if you would like to purchase a hard copy, SDG members get a 20% discount!
Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity: Measuring What We Value
In this volume, leaders in racial and social justice discuss foundation diversity and share their perspectives regarding what may or may not lead to long-term change and greater equity.
Thursdays with SDG Program Series
Join us for 2008's Thursdays with SDG monthly program series. Building upon the success of last year’s series, we are offering a wide range of topics to meet the varying interests of our membership. Please take a few minutes to read about the individual programs and mark your calendars! Click here for the full listing of Thursdays with SDG programs.
Next month's session:
Managing Reputation: Corporate Giving in the Face of Adversity
June 19, 2008
8:30-10:30 am
Location: Casey Family Programs, 3878 Old Town Ave., San Diego, CA 92110
Matthew Nelson, Managing Director, Corporate Services, Council on Foundations
Todd Flora, IBM's Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs
Kelly Prasser, Manager, Corporate Community Relations, Sempra Energy
Research shows that when it comes to improving the reputation of companies in their communities, corporate giving matters. It can REALLY matter when a company is faced with adversity or controversy, either internally or externally. Join us to learn how community relations activities can help manage your corporate reputation. We will also discuss how to adapt gracefully to budget cutbacks resulting from the economic downturn. Our guest speaker and facilitator will be Matthew Nelson, Managing Director of Corporate Services with the Council on Foundations. Matthew was previously manager of community relations for Ameriprise Financial.
To RSVP for this program, call 619/744.2180 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org.
Upcoming
SDG Programs
Click here for a complete listing of SDG Programs.
Role of Advocacy in Grantmaking
June 3, 2008
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Junior Achievement of San Diego and Imperial Counties, 4756 Mission Gorge Place, San Diego, CA
Managing Reputation: Corporate Giving in the Face of Adversity
June 19, 2008, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. (Light breakfast served)
Location: Casey Family Programs, 3878 Old Town Ave., San Diego, CA 92110
Pass or Fail? San Diego County Report Card on Children and Families
July 17, 2008, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. (Light breakfast served)
Location: Casey Family Programs, 3878 Old Town Ave., San Diego, CA 92110
SAVE THE DATE!
San Diego Grantmakers 2008 Annual Conference
MAPPING THE IMPACT OF SAN DIEGO PHILANTHROPY
October 23, 2008
Working Group Meetings
Workforce Funders: June 11
Homelessness Working Group: June 9
Child Welfare Funders: July 22 (Strategic Planning, Half-Day Session)
San Diego Neighborhood Funders: June 6
Family Foundation Exchange: June 10
Click here for more information about all of these SDG programs. All programs are free for SDG members except where indicated.
To RSVP, please call (619) 744-2180 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org.
Other Events of Interest
CECP Corporate Philanthropy Summit (featuring Andre Agassi and Katie Couric!)
June 3-4, 2008
New York, NY
Grantmakers Without Borders Annual Conference: Just Giving--Global Social Change Philanthropy
San Francisco, CA
June 8-10, 2008
The Rensselaerville Institute Corporate Philanthropy Workshop
June 11-12, 2008
Rensselaerville, NY
The Grantmaking School Advanced Proposal Analysis
June 11-13, 2008
San Francisco, CA
COF Webinar: The Fiduciary’s Business Plan—The Investment Policy Statement
June 12, 2008
2:00pm–3:00pm ET
COF Webinar: Practical Applications of Achieving Fiduciary Excellence
June 19, 2008
2:00pm–3:00pm ET
Stanford Executive Program for Philanthropy Leaders
July 27 - August 2, 2008
Application deadline: May 19, 2008
Palo Alto, California
Corporate Community Involvement Conference:
Strategic Corporate Community Involvement – Meeting Business and Community Challenges
(SDG members receive a discounted rate)
July 30 – August 1, 2008
San Francisco, CA
California Grantmakers in the Arts State-Wide Meeting
September 9, 2008
San Diego, CA
Association of Small Foundations National Conference (SDG members can register at the member rate--mention discount code COLLEAGUE!)
September 18-20, 2008
Denver, CO
Today, the role of philanthropy is expanding and so are its
responsibilities. This online SDGrantmakers Update is published
by San Diego Grantmakers to help SDG members meet the challenge. Our mission is to connect, educate, develop, and inspire a diverse
group of foundations and corporations to stimulate effective
philanthropy in the San Diego region. For more information,
visit www.SDGrantmakers.org. Copies
of past editions are archived here. Contact Nancy Jamison, 619/744.2180 or nancy@SDGrantmakers.org to suggest article ideas or submit news items, or if you no longer wish to receive these updates.
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