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By Helen Kaiao Chang
A credit card commercial might ask: What’s the price of clean water? Of families having enough food? Of motivated
employees? A safe neighborhood? Or happy memories for your grandchildren?
The answer: Priceless.
We cannot measure such intangibles. But we all know the value of having such “social profits” in society. That is what a growing number of business philanthropists are doing
in San Diego
— giving their money to nonprofit organizations that help people throughout the
community.
In the following pages, we highlight just a few of the many philanthropists who
are making a difference in San Diego. Inspired by the likes of Bill Gates,
Warren Buffet and Bono, they are bringing their business clout, experience and
dollars to tackle San Diego
’s most pressing challenges: clean water, safe neighborhoods, hunger,
homelessness, libraries, the arts, children and education, to name a few.
As experienced businesspeople, they are asking for accountability for their
donations. While the Return On Investment (ROI) cannot be counted in dollars,
the benefits of their work will ripple far beyond our neighborhoods and future
generations.
“There is a new style of philanthropy that has been emerging over the last
several years,
” said Daniel Weinberg, director of the City of San Diego’s Major Gifts and Philanthropy Planning program. “In addition to doing good, these families are expecting competency and
performance by the beneficiaries of these donations, including the city. They
look at these as transactions in a way that is comparable to how they run their
companies.
”
Call them the “entre-philanthropists” or “philanthro-preneurs.” More and more San Diego businesspeople are taking the reigns of social change
into their own hands and applying business principles to their efforts.
“There’s been a shift in the last five years,” said Bruce Blakley, board chairman of the San Diego Foundation, the county’s übra charity group, which manages 628 endowment funds valued at $246.5 million. “Giving is from entrepreneurs.”
Historically, San Diego has benefited from a handful of philanthropist families,
such as the Scripps, Kellogg, Luce and Fletcher families. But today
’s philanthropists comprise the region’s nouveau riche, fueled by new business wealth.
“Many of these entrepreneurs successfully sold or took their companies public,
while others made money through investments,
” said San Diego Foundation’s Blakley, himself a former CPA with Pricewaterhouse-Coopers. Some are
professionals who moved to San Diego later in life with money.
“Many philanthropists are baby boomers who are enjoying unprecedented wealth
through inheritance. The recent real estate boom also created new
philanthropists in San Diego,
” said Weinberg. “Gen X’ers and Gen Y’ers also give, but tend to do so through socially responsible business missions,” said Keely Bamberg, a director at San Diego State University’s Entrepreneurial Management Center.
One thing these new philanthropists have in common: business sense. They sit on
boards, coach nonprofit leaders, ask for benchmarks, demand accountability and
measure progress. They also apply business concepts such as: leverage, targets,
evaluation, clients and ROI, even if this means social returns for the
community.
“The desire for measurability trickles down to even the smallest grant makers, to
ensure they are actually making a difference,
” said Nancy Jamison, executive director of San Diego Grantmakers, which educates
its 88 philanthropist group members with information about nonprofit
organizations.
“Evaluation is a big, big word.”
Partnership and collaboration is also the new paradigm, said Jamison. “It’s not about ‘you come to me and prove that you’re worth my investment.’ It’s, ‘let’s work together and try to figure this out.’“ One bonus: these philanthropists tend to stay involved longer with the
nonprofit groups.
“These collaborations include leveraging dollars with other corporate giving
foundations and the public sector,
” said Jamison. According to one study cited by Jamison, private donors provide
about 20 percent of charitable funds granted, whereas government contributes 31
percent.
“But the philanthropists have the advantage of being flexible and nimble, because
they have no bureaucracy,
” she said.
Charitable organizations had to adjust their mindsets. Sometimes having
business-minded philanthropists on their boards can create stress in terms of
direction or control. Charitable
“boards and senior management need to understand and discuss these things before
receiving such gifts,
” said Blakley.
These philanthropists understand the importance of giving back to society. “People who have been very successful in their lives have understood that the
community has been a partner with them, supporting the success of their
businesses, companies and transactions,
” said Weinberg. “A good swath of them understand that in order to keep San Diego vibrant, they
need to return their social capital to this very special place.
”
Not all philanthropists are wealthy, but all can make a difference. “You don’t have to be a significant person of substantial wealth to have an impact in the
community,
” said Blakley. “Everyone in their own small way has an ability to create change.”
Large Business Philanthropists in San Diego
Many of San Diego’s philanthropists prefer to remain discreet and anonymous. Here are just a few of the prominent business donors in town:
Irwin and Joan Jacobs of Qualcomm—Donate to numerous civic and academic organizations, include $120 million to the
San Diego Symphony; $15 million to the UC San Diego School of Engineering; $3.5
million to the Florence Riford La Jolla Branch Library; and $1 million to
NPR-affiliated KPBS San Diego radio station.
The Jim Hervey Family—Donate to many civic groups, including $5 million to Point Loma Library, which
was renamed Edgar and Jean Jessop Hervey Point Loma Branch Library.
The Hervey Family was honored as 2006 San Diego Philanthropists of the Year by
the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
The Aaron Feldman family, which owns the Sunroad Enterprises group of car dealerships—Give to many organizations, including a pledge of $1 million to San Diego county’s helicopter fire rescue mission.
Judith and Jack White, who founded the first discount brokerage firm on the West Coast—Give to health research groups, including $1.1 million to the UCSD School of
Medicine, and $536,000 to upgrade EKGs, used to save heart attack victims, in
the city ambulances.
Rebecca and John Moores, owners of the San Diego Padres—Donate to numerous groups including $20 million to the UCSD cancer research
center which was named after them; and $6.6 million to the San Diego Zoo.
Source City of San Diego’s Philanthropy Program, www.sandiego.gov/philanthropycenter
San Diego City’s Philanthropy and Corporate Partnership Programs
Amount the City of San Diego Philanthropy program has raised since 2001: More
than $5 million
Amount the City of San Diego’s Corporate Partnership Program has raised since year of inception 1999: $12.3
million
“Despite the city’s financial woes, philanthropic giving has not slowed down,” said Daniel Weinberg, who oversees its Philanthropy Program. In fact, some 70
percent of charitable gifts to the city are initiated by donors.
San Diego’s Corporate Partnership Program also continues to generate revenue,” said Jenny Wolff, who heads the program. The largest such marketing partner is
The Pepsi Bottling Group, which brought in more than $4.3 million as the
“Official Beverage Provider of the City of San Diego.”
