The Philanthropist Next Door

This editoral appeared in The Rocky Mountain News on March 28, 2008.

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In the recent article, “Anschutz’s $23 Million Tops Donors in Colorado,” Joanne Kelley, the Rocky Mountain News philanthropy reporter, listed the major givers in Colorado. She noted that while Phil Anschutz gave $23 million to charitable causes, Marvin Caruthers gave $20 million and Tim Gill $11million, the “affluent, particularly those worth billions of dollars, give away far less than they can afford.”

I have not found that beating people over the head is a particularly good motivational tactic. To me it is amazing that millionaires and billionaires give so much to philanthropic causes. Rather than focus on the philanthropic defects of the rich and famous, let’s celebrate the fact that last year, Americans at every income level combined donated more than $250 billion dollars to our nation’s 1.4 million nonprofit organizations.

I believe that instead of decrying the philanthropists we already have, Colorado can lead the way to a new spirit of philanthropy—one that includes the moviegoers as well as the opera patrons. United Way of America started right here in Denver, when in 1887 the first dean of Saint John’s Cathedral, along with Monsignor William O’Ryan of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, the Reverend Myron W. Reed of the 1st Congregational Church, and Rabbi William S. Friedman of Temple Emanuel, had an idea that by coming together to raise money as a community they could achieve more than with many separate appeals. Their unique “Denver Charity Organization,” renamed The United Way, is now one of the largest charitable fundraising organization in the world.

The question for me is: How can we make philanthropy the catalyst for change? I believe we must start by changing our definition of philanthropy. Independent Sector’s most recent study on Giving and Volunteering in the United States notes that “giving in Hispanic culture takes place primarily within the network of church, family and friends” rather than to institutional charities, accounting for the fact that statistically Latinos have lower levels of giving to organized philanthropy than the non-Latino population. It turns out that most Latino people subscribe to the notion that charity really does begin at home—and at church, at school and in the neighborhood. Rather than send in a check to Food Bank of the Rockies, a Latino philanthropist is more likely to simply stop by with a basket of food for a neighbor who has just lost his job, or offer to run errands for a couple whose child is ill in the hospital.

Isn’t the person who checks on his frail, elderly neighbor a philanthropist? The person who volunteers to coach soccer? The person living on a fixed income who writes a $10 check? We can all be philanthropists, and we need to recognize and applaud the tremendous difference we are making to change the world, one person at a time. Why do we need to wait for a tsunami or a hurricane? Let’s figure out ways to be proactive—before tragedy hits home.

How do we take the inherent goodwill of the American people and harness it into a force for positive change? Several leading philanthropic institutions, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in its Emerging Philanthropies in Communities of Color initiative, are studying ways to tap into the informal but extremely generous network of individual philanthropists.

There is a lot that organized philanthropy can do to encourage individual philanthropists in Colorado. The Rose Community Foundation and El Pomar Foundation already have wonderful programs that inspire and support high school students to raise and then give away money. The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County has developed a 12-week curriculum for elementary school children on the importance of giving back, how to volunteer and raise money, how to research nonprofits and how to have impact. Last December, 4^th and 5^th graders in Bixby School’s student council had to make a tough choice between the Humane Society and Children’s Hospital, but after much discussion finally decided to donate their $1,000 of collected pennies to purchase an Art Cart for the new Children’s Hospital. The foundation program has so far graduated 240 young philanthropists and more schools are signing up for the program.

Our young people are ready and eager for leadership, each one of them a budding philanthropist and change agent. The idea that Barack Obama is running a “movement” rather than a political campaign has come in for some sarcasm from the pundits, but we have seen more young people involved in this election than in the past 50 years. In Colorado, schools and churches had lines winding round the block on caucus night. Senator Obama has been able to touch a point deep inside people that brings hope and inspiration.

The philanthropists are ready and waiting. Will some more leaders please step forward?