Posts Tagged ‘foundations’

Would you like a tax write-off with that sandwich?

Friday, May 20th, 2011

panera-interior-2.jpg
© 1999-2011 Panera, LLC. All rights reserved

“The lesson here is most people are fundamentally good,” [Panera founder and Chairman Ronald] Shaich said. “People step up and they do the right thing.”

The “right thing,” in this case, is choosing to pay the full retail price (or more) for a bagel at one of Panera Bread’s pay-what-you-want restaurants. These locations are nonprofit, and “prices” are actually just suggested donations. Any money left over after paying the utility bills and workers’ salaries (i.e. overhead) goes to Panera’s charitable foundation.

This is genius for two reasons:

1. Amazing PR for Panera

2. Combining hunger and peer pressure to make people donate to your charity

Seems like it’s getting easier every day to spend money. Is this the new philanthropy? Are $10 text donations just the start? Anything that gets people to donate more money to good organizations is progress in our book.

You have to wonder, though. Is this kind of giving the way you really want to spend your donation dollars? Impulse giving is kind of like impulse shopping – it will probably make you feel good about yourself at the moment (especially if you just ate a delicious sandwich), but it doesn’t usually reflect who you are or where your values lie.

And it definitely goes against the sage advice to do your homework before you give someone your money.

Forget Traditional Fundraising. Let’s Grow Weed!

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Everyone had a theory about what would happen when California legalized marijuana for medical use, but growing it to fund an art foundation probably wasn’t on the list.

  • Using a small plot of land in Sonoma County, Kirsha Kaechele is experimenting with a way to fund arts programs in perpetuity by legally growing marijuana.
  • Some growers are already donating some of their profit to charities and creative causes, but Life is Art is hoping to use the marijuana farm as a consistent source of funding for a lifetime of homegrown art projects.
  • In November, California voters will consider a proposal to make marijuana legal for recreational purposes. Marijuana supporters who oppose the measure worry that expanding use will allow corporations to step in, put small growers out of business, and eliminate the potential for charitable growing.

Facts & Figures

  • Selling marijuana is still technically a crime under federal law.
  • An ounce of medical-grade marijuana sells for about $200 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • Art is Life plans to generate $1 million next year to pay for art projects based on the farm and in New Orleans.

Best Quote

“The whole game of finding support just started to seem so childish. So I decided to grow up and became a marijuana farmer.” – Kirsha Kaechele, Director of Art is Life Foundation

Charitable Foundations Finally Looking Up

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Finally, some good news about philanthropy in the wake of the financial crisis!

  • Endowments for charitable institutions grew steadily last year, rebounding from the sharp declines of 2008.
  • Despite the rebound, many foundations and charities have still cut back on spending and giving.
  • Most foundations (55%) gave less in 2009, but a few (16%) gave more.

Facts and Figures

  • Hundreds of grant makers saw their investments increase by about 20% this year (compared to a 26% drop in 2008).
  • Charities and foundations carry a median debt of over $20 million.
  • 38% of charities spent less in 2009, 20% spent more.

A Program Officer is…

Friday, August 7th, 2009

A program officer is a person who works for a foundation or in a corporate giving program that helps decide which causes to give to and how much to give. They review grant proposals and discuss the budget and other policy issues with board members and other staff.

Why does every pro athlete have their own foundation?

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Mia Hamm, and seemingly every other big athlete out there has their own charitable foundation. There are many reasons why an athlete might open his own foundation, which are really no different than the reasons a normal person would have for starting a foundation. Starting a foundation allows you to determine its mission – what causes it plans to address and how it will go about doing that. Mia Hamm’s foundation focuses on two causes very close to her, young women in sports and transplant patients – her brother Garrow died from complications from a transplant. A lot of athletes’ foundations have something to do with the sport in which they excel or with another cause otherwise meaningful to them.

Also, having a foundation is good PR. Running a foundation that does charitable work makes you look like a good person and therefore, more marketable for a larger number of companies. This can be good for endorsement deals and generally adding to your fame. That isn’t to say that athletes are bad for being famous and starting foundations at all – their fame can bring lots of attention to issues that might otherwise be overlooked. Although not an athlete, Farrah Fawcett’s advocacy and unfortunate death brought lots of attention to a little-discussed form of cancer.

Some think it would be better to give to a pre-existing foundation than starting your own. Michael Jordan closed down the Michael Jordan Foundation because he wanted to focus on the James Jordan Foundation, started in honor of his father. He noted that they did similar things and he wanted to be able to concentrate his energy and money in one place to enhance his impact.

Starting a foundation allows athletes and other people with money and influence to direct their giving precisely as they choose. They should be commended for lending their name and their money to causes that need support, and so should you for giving to good causes.

You’re a foundation. Do you sit on that mountain of money or make it rain?

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

John Hunting started the Beldon Fund 10 years ago with the intention of giving it all away by this year. He said, “I felt as an environmentalist that it was imperative to spend the money now, because it would be silly to wait for the future if there wasn’t going to be a future.” As planned, the Fund closed to meet its deadline.

This spend-down strategy is called a sunset provision. Foundations use sunset provisions when they want to assert a sense of urgency for a cause. The Beldon Fund spent approximately $120 million over its decade lifespan building a groundswell of support for its environmental cause. About 12% of family foundations adopt sunset provision like the Beldon Fund.

A Family Foundation is…

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

A family foundation is a private organization whose funding comes from one single family.

Philanthropists Tightening Belts To Get Most Bang For Their Buck

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

The changing economy can affect which ways of giving are best for you…

  • Increasingly donors are closing private/family foundations and choosing to take advantage of the many benefits of donor-advised funds.
  • Advantages include an immediate and bigger tax deduction, lower administrative costs, more diversified giving options (including cash, stocks, and art), no annually required distribution amounts (foundations are required to give away at least 5% of their assets), and increased efficiency and privacy for the donor.
  • Donor advised funds can be found both in large investment firms such as Fidelity and Schwab, as well as religious, university, and community foundations.

Facts & Figures

  • There are more than 64,000 private foundations in the U.S.
  • Americans give more than $300 billion annually to charity.
  • In 2007 there were $27.7 billion in donor-advised funds – up from $7.5 billion eight years earlier.

Best Quote

“We all agreed that it was impractical to continue it.” – Charles Buchanan, heir to the stewardship of a corporate foundation

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