PHILANTHROPY Heel, boy, heel IT’S IMPORTANT TO DRAW A LINE in the sand somewhere. And according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey, many companies are doing just that. Some 73 percent of the nation’s largest corporations polled indicate they wouldn’t be giving as much to charity in the near future as they did before the recession, according to its Aug. 7, 2010 issue. “If you don’t have a formal plan laid out, you should at least have a dollar figure in mind so that you don’t get bled dry too badly,” said JoEllen Wollangk, northeast regional manager for the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin. She compared budgeting for giving to planning ahead for Christmas shopping. “Decide what you think your company can afford to give,” Wollangk said. “Make a list of those things you really want to support and that have meaning for you.” One tactic a member of Wollangk’s advisory board uses to weed out good from bad causes when he gets a phone solicitation: “He asks, ‘Do you meet the Better Business Bureau’s 20 Standards for non-profits?’ Half the time, they hang up on him,” Wollangk said. Helping kids is high on the list for Culver’s, Miller said.
“We’ve paid to install new lighting in playgrounds, provided new computers in schools, libraries, etc. Our main objective is to give back in our communities wherever and whenever we find the need,” Miller said. Donors or corporations usually have their hotspots – things they value or give to and they just need to keep doing that, Connolly-Keesler said. “There are some businesses that just love the arts and that’s what they give to; they should continue to give to that. That is a real value call for companies and donors. A lot of it is who you know and who puts pressure on you.”
Marmaduke, is that you? IT’S NOT YOUR IMAGINATION: More people do have their hands out lately. Demand for charity keeps growing. And growing. Requests for donations are up enormously this giving year, according to Connolly-Keesler. “I have to say, from the foundation perspective, I have never seen this number of requests,” Connolly-Keesler said. In her 11 years with the foundation, the last six months have seen the greatest demand. “July 1 is when our giving year begins, and we could be out of our budget right now. Right now, people are just
Philanthropic giving is an issue many businesses face, yet there’s no real central clearinghouse of guidelines for businesses – no bluebook, advice queen or Dog Whisperer to consult.
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out of money, they’ve used everything they have and they are lining up. I am really quite amazed.” The Oshkosh Area Community Foundation has funds earmarked for individual categories of needs, as well as “unrestricted” money that can go wherever. “We hold dollars for everything, for capital campaigns, for the environment, for the arts, education, women’s issues,” Connolly-Keesler said. But an economy such as the one we’re in the midst of calls for basic needs to take precedence, Connolly-Keesler said. That means sustenance and shelter come before song and Shakespeare. “What happened is all of us shifted our philanthropic dollars to basic needs,” Connolly-Keesler said. “We have had to make sure people are fed, that they have housing and that they have clothing.” “We do have unrestricted dollars, and two years ago we shifted all our unrestricted dollars to basic needs causes. That’s why organizations that are used to coming to us for their $5,000 or $10,000 grant really took a hit.” But Connolly-Keesler said it’s important to have arts in the community – you can’t just have food pantries and shelters, she said. “You need quality of life. Right now, the arts are suffering,” Connolly-Keesler said. Small organizations – the kind run by one or two people – are struggling. Connolly-Keesler said she’ll be interested in whether - once funding for basic needs causes has leveled out – people start giving to arts-related causes again.
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