LA Philanthropy Watch

Greg Baldwin at VolunteerMatch was disappointed with the results of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s iParticipate campaign to write volunteering themes into TV programs (which I mentioned in an October 25 post).  “But despite the best of intentions and millions of dollars worth of promotion and PSAs yesterday’s star-studded TV event didn’t work as planned,”  writes Mr. Baldwin; he reports that his organization received more hits on its website as a result of Google searches than TV shows.

Allison Fine offers sensible comments with some perspective in response.  She suggests, for instance, that we don’t live in an either/or world and that the messages may move people eventually (even if they didn’t click on VolunteerMatch’s website last Thursday).  She also writes, “This is an opportunity  for volunteer matching websites and organizations, and the nonprofit organizations that use volunteers, to engage with EIF to develop a longer-term strategy of how to continue to raise the importance and opportunities of volunteerism.”

Here is a free link (no subscription required) to a September Chronicle of Philanthropy article on the TV campaign.

In a page one story titled, “Sharing the Pain,” the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Noelle Barton and Caroline Preston suggest – based on a survey of the 400 nonprofits that raise the most philanthropic dollars – that giving will drop sharply in 2009 and that 2010 will not be much better.  (Here is a free link to an abbreviated version of the article.)

Total charitable giving declined in 2008; in fact, Giving USA reported only the second decline in charitable giving since the foundation began doing annual surveys in 1955.  (I linked to this story in June.)  But the largest nonprofits, those with the most sophisticated and successful fund raising operations, fared better than smaller organizations last year: total contributions actually increased slightly at the top 400 nonprofits in 2008.

At this stage, however, things are looking less promising even for the elite 400 in 2009.  Institutions have redoubled their fund raising efforts as they scramble to reach more modest goals.  The Chronicle reports that the top nonprofits anticipate a median decline in giving of 9% this year.

Of the top 400 institutions profiled, 51 have headquarters in California; 15 are based in Los Angeles.  The fund raising results for the LA cohort varied widely among these organizations in 2008. Giving was up 25.2% at UCLA (which raised the most philanthropic dollars) and down 12.9% at USC (number 2 in LA). Contributions increased last year at just 5 of 15 Philanthropy 400 organizations in Los Angeles – by a whopping 439.7% at the Entertainment Industry Foundation!  Contributions declined (from 5.4% to 43.6%) at 9 top ranked organizations in LA.

Note: the Chronicle’s ranking is based on fiscal years ending in 2008; for LA-based organizations on the list, the end of the fiscal year ranged from June 30, 2008 to December 31, 2008 (with one exception, noted below).

To make this interesting, I have listed the 15 Los Angeles nonprofits on the Philanthropy 400 based on the percentage increase or decrease in fund raising they experienced in the past year.  In parentheses, I list their overall ranking on the Chronicle’s list (based on total dollars raised, not percentage of change).

Four Los Angeles institutions experienced increases in fund raising in 2008.  (EIF led the way; LACMA experienced the second greatest increase in fund raising; and so on.)

• Entertainment Industry Foundation (#118 on the Chronicle’s list of 400)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (#167)
• International Medical Corps (#400)
• University of California at Los Angeles (#32)

Philanthropic revenues were essentially flat at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (#229) – technically up one-tenth of one percent.

Nine organizations experienced declines in fund raising; the first two organizations listed below declined less than 6%, while the last two declined by more than 40%:

• RAND Corporation (#371)
• Jewish Community Foundation (#241)
• KCET/Community Television of Southern California (#399)
• University of Southern California (#37)
• City of Hope (#198)
• Help the Children (#272)
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (#306)
• California Community Foundation (#157)
• California Institute of Technology (#206)

The Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles (#349 on the Chronicle’s list) is an anomaly; its ranking is based on the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2007.

Editor’s note: On October 22 I reported on the Reimagining Service initiative and suggested that I would explore issues related to it in future posts.  This is an installment in that series.

Have you noticed Volunteer Week – October 19 through October 25 – on TV?  Today was the last day.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy described the themed programming last month (no subscription required for this link), “In an unprecedented effort coordinated by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a leading Hollywood charity, more than 60 national TV programs have agreed to incorporate story lines about volunteers into their scripts, highlight real-life volunteers, air public-service announcements, or ask cast members to create a ‘tag’ at the end of their show encouraging people to volunteer.”  ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC (as well as several cable networks) took part.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) has also launched the iParticipate initiative, complete with website that boasts a blog, Facebook links, and a widget to search for volunteer opportunities, to encourage volunteerism and service.  (EIF was also involved in UCLA’s Day of Community Service, which I reported on in a September 23 post.)

Heather Carpenter, who blogs at Nonprofit Leadership 601, was distressed to find scathing criticism of these do-good initiatives – from Glenn Beck (with whom Ms. Carpenter is unfamiliar).  Here’s the YouTube link, titled – Glenn Beck: Obama’s Call for Volunteerism = “Communism”.

In brief, Beck objects because he sees a sinister hand in EIF’s initiatives, each of which “falls into line with President Obama’s Corporation for National and Community Service and a call for more service and volunteerism …”

“Well, this is fantastic,” he exclaims. “It’s almost like we’re living in Mao’s China right now!”

He proceeds to mock, in turn, Michelle Obama, Ashton Kucher, NBC, and Disney.   Why Disney (apart from the fact, as Beck notes in passing, that they’re “the owners of ABC Television”)?  Because beginning in January, Disney will offer a free day at Disney World or Disneyland to folks who volunteer for a day at a nonprofit.  This exchange – a free day at a theme park for voluntary service (”Isn’t it working for free?”) – concerns Mr. Beck.

“Celebrities are coming together to make it cool to volunteer.  Disney gives you a free day at the park.  This is all fine, but doesn’t it seem a little bit convenient that all of this comes out now at the same time the Obama Administration is calling for it?  Mmm.  Obama controls the message through the media he holds in his pocket.  Or in his little hand – that soon, if you disobey, he’ll just go–” And here Beck, holding one palm up, forcefully smacks the other hand down on it – as if crushing a small, pitiful creature.

While the unpolitical Ms. Carpenter isn’t familiar with Beck, John C. Ronquillo is; he begins his post by saying, “…I view Mr. Beck first and foremost as an entertainer.”  Nonetheless, Mr. Ronquillo is unprepared for this bit of performance art.  “Upon my first viewing of the video, I was angry, but also perplexed. Is it really conceivable that Beck is truly that anti-volunteerism?”

Apparently so.  In an era when a major television news network is virtually indistinguishable from talk radio, and when Barack Obama is associated with service and volunteerism, it may be difficult to find consensus on their value or on the value of promoting them.

About 4,300 UCLA first-year students along with 300 staff, faculty, alumni and returning students rode in 100 yellow school buses to eight sites across the city (as reported by Larry Gordon in today’s LA Times).  Among their activities: repairing hiking trails at Griffith Park, cleaning up  the beach at Point Dume, and maintaining graves at the Veteran’s cemetery.  At five public schools – Gompers Middle School in South LA, University High in West LA, Contreras High and Gratts Elementary in downtown, and Kester Elementary in Sherman Oaks – volunteers swept, weeded, planted groundcover, and painted classrooms and murals.

Yesterday’s day of service, the first UCLA Volunteer Day, was organized by UCLA’s new Volunteer Center.  L.A. Works was a partner in the effort, while the Entertainment Industry Foundation provided funding with a $250,000 grant.

Chancellor Gene Block, joined by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at Gompers Middle School, said the day represented, “an affirmation of UCLA’s obligation, as a public university, t0 serve the community.”

The NonProfit Times offers its “Power and Influence Top 50: Volunteering as a fashion statement.”  Not sure what to make of this.  Is it more like a best dressed list or college rankings or …?

At any rate, the list includes 7 Californians, including 3 from Los Angeles: Fred J. Ali, President and CEO of the Weingart Foundation; Lisa C. Paulsen, President and CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation; and Blair H. Taylor, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League.  The other California honorees headed nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Just for perspective on the NonProfit Times editors’ views of the powerful: 14 people on their list lead organizations headquartered in Washington, D.C., plus 8 from suburban Virginia; 8 from New York City (and 1 from Hempstead); 2 from Boston (plus 1 from Cambridge); and 2 from Atlanta.  No other city or state had more than a single honoree.