Today, the role of philanthropy is expanding and so are its responsibilities. This online SDGrantmakers Update is published by San Diego Grantmakers to help you meet the challenge. Our mission is to connect, teach, develop, and inspire a diverse group of foundations and corporations to stimulate effective philanthropy in the San Diego region. For more information, visit www.SDGrantmakers.org.

"Generosity is a principle -- not an amount." -Millie Thornton

Welcome New Member: Mission Federal Credit Union!

Recently we invited you to participate in a very important online SDG member survey. Thank you to everyone who has already completed it. If you have not yet had a chance to share your feedback about our desired and future services and role, we hope that you will do so by DECEMBER 19 WHEN THE SURVEY CLOSES. We are eager to get your input - it is a key ingredient to the strategic planning we will engage in early 2006. The survey is brief (20 questions). Click here to complete the survey.

As always, it is hard to believe that it is time once again to reflect on one year and plan for the next. Someone asked me the other day what the best thing about 2005 was for me and I was completely sincere when I answered - starting work at San Diego Grantmakers! I continue to be honored and energized by this opportunity to support philanthropy in our community. (And on a personal note: the other great thing about 2005 - my son got into college! Go Bucknell Bisons!)

I want to acknowledge the great gifts that departing board members have provided SDG over the years: Bob Kelly (The San Diego Foundation) Ruth Riedel (Alliance Healthcare Foundation) and Janine Mason (Fieldstone Foundation) have all reached board term limits this year. Pete Ellsworth (The Legler Benbough Foundation) has resigned due to the demands of other commitments. Phil White has also resigned due to the closing of The Hamilton-White Foundation. I know I speak for the entire board and membership when I say to them all -- "thank you for giving in so many ways."

Joining our board in 2006 are an impressive group of contributors: Valerie Jacobs (Jacobs Family Foundation), Douglas Sawyer (United Way of San Diego County), Regina Meyer (The Rose Foundation and Web MD Health Foundation), Kathy Patoff (Union Bank of California) and Ann Bossler (Weingart-Price Fund). Our 2006 board officers are: Chair - Allison Kelly (QUALCOMM, Inc.); Vice Chair and Treasurer - Gregory Hall (The California Endowment); Secretary - Joanne Pastula (The Thomas C. Ackerman Foundation). Thanks to all for committing to leadership in SDG.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: We are pleased to be hosting the new CEO of the Council on Foundations- Steve Gunderson - on March 2 for breakfast and conversation. This is a time of significant transition in the life of that organization and arguably in the life of philanthropy overall, given all the attention in Washington. It will be instructive to hear his perspectives and plans and have a chance to ask him your burning questions as he takes on this leadership role in our sector. Click here for Steve's bio.

Finally, there is much talk about giving at this time of year - I feel privileged to work with people like our members that give all year round! Ileana, Chapin, Meghan and I wish you the best during this holiday season and in 2006.

Cheers, Nancy

As 2005 comes to an end, stories abound regarding the state of philanthropy for this year. GuideStar found that nearly 80 percent of more than 3,900 nonprofits and foundations surveyed anticipate that recent natural disasters will cause end-of-year contributions to remain at or decrease from 2004 levels. However, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that most charity officials expect 2005 to be a good, perhaps record-setting, year for donations, despite reports of donor fatigue. OnPhilanthropy features a discussion about how donors can maximize year-end charitable contributions because of benefits provided in the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act. Both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times have recently run stories highlighting the state of year-end giving. In a related vein, a Harris Interactive poll found that Americans have "mixed feelings" about the nonprofit world.

The Foundation Center released its first Foundation Giving Trends (pdf) preview, which indicates that giving by the largest private and community foundations increased 8.1 percent between 2003 and 2004, following two years of decline. The two-page snapshot, which provides the first look at 2004 grantmaking patterns, also shows that support for most major subject areas grew, with health, science and technology posting the largest gains.

When it comes to charitable giving, regional differences abound across the United States, a new report from the Giving USA Foundation finds. Researched and written by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and based on Internal Revenue Service data from 2002 and 2003 and a 2002 panel study conducted by the center, the report found that when compared with national levels, residents of the seven states of the West North Central region (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and the Dakotas) have a slightly higher participation rate for giving overall, have a much higher participation rate for religious giving, and give higher total amounts. The report shows that when it comes to donating to charity, "Americans are not one size fits all," said Hank Goldstein, chairman of Giving USA Foundation. "There are marked differences that must be understood before assigning terms such as 'generous' or 'stingy' to residents of any particular state or region." Click here for more information.

The San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative (SDHFC), a program of the Alliance Healthcare Foundation, has announced the 2006 recipients of $474,540 in grant awards for HIV/AIDS services in the San Diego region. The funds, raised through AIDS Walk San Diego (AWSD) and a number of local and national donors who contribute to SDHFC, will be distributed to 38 agencies that provide direct support and services to those affected by the disease. To view the 2006 grant recipients, click here. Along with AIDS Walk, SDHFC's funding partners who contributed to this year's grant awards are The Sunshine Brooks Permanent Fund of AIDS Foundation San Diego, Alliance Healthcare Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation, McCarthy Family Foundation, National AIDS Fund, The Parker Foundation, The Lesbian and Gay Fund of the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation and The San Diego Foundation at The San Diego Foundation, and the James Ziegler Advised Fund at The San Diego Foundation.
Since its inception, the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative and its group of dedicated local and national foundations and individuals has raised over $4 million for local agencies.

The GiveMeaning Foundation is launching GivingProfiles, a searchable online database now in an early working beta version containing specific charitable and community initiatives a company supports. "Most companies, irrespective of the industry, are actively involved with at least one charity; but the details of what they're actually doing are often hard to access, buried in a company's website," said foundation CEO Tom Williams. Companies that subscribe to GivingProfiles will get a custom webpage on the GivingProfiles website to display all of their corporate social responsibility activities.

The SDG library has these and many other resources, available for borrowing!

Beyond Compliance: The Trustee Viewpoint on Effective Foundation Governance
This report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations and BoardSource seeks to understand trustee perceptions of foundation board effectiveness. You can download your own free electronic copy here.

Collaborative Philanthropies: What Groups of Foundations Can Do That Individual Funders Cannot
Elwood M. Hopkins, executive director of Los Angeles Urban Funders, distills ten years of his own research on funder collaboration, surveying forty real-life partnerships to illustrate what works, what doesn't, and why. For more information, click here.

Personal Strategy: Mobilizing Your Self for Effective Grant Making
GrantCraft, a project of the Ford Foundation, released a new guide to help grantmakers be more effective in their work. Most grantmakers expect, even look forward to, challenges that test their ability to solve technical problems posed by their foundations and grantees. Yet, grantmakers rarely anticipate needing a personal strategy to resolve the more ambiguous situations that are part of a grantmaker's day-to-day work. Click here for more info.

International Grantmaking: A Primer for Global Giving
Speakers: Rob Buchanan, Council on Foundations International Programs; Richard Kiy International Community Foundation; and Skip Rhodes, formerly, ChevronTexaco Corporation.
January 12, 2006
8:30 - 11:00 am
Location: La Jolla Professional Center-UCSD, 8950 Villa La Jolla Dr., Suite A124, La Jolla, CA 92037
Breakfast Program

Give & Take: Knowing How Much to Keep and How Much to Give Away
Guest Speaker: Claudia Sangster
January 17, 2006
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: High Tech High, 2861 Womble Road, San Diego, CA 92106
Appetizers & Beverages
Sponsored by San Diego Social Venture Partners

Reputation & Branding in Corporate Grantmaking
Presented by Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
February 7, 2006
8:30 am - 10:30 am
Location: Amylin Pharmaceuticals, 9360 Towne Centre Drive, Ste. 110, San Diego, CA 92121
Breakfast Program

Exceptional Board Governance: 2nd Annual Institute for Nonprofit Stewardship
February 11, 2006
9:00-4:00 pm
Location: Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, USD, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110
Conference sponsored by University of San Diego, Nonprofit Leadership & Management Program, $65 per person

A Conversation with Steve Gunderson: New Council on Foundations CEO
March 2, 2006
8:30-10:30 am
Location: TBD, please see www.sdgrantmakers.org for update
Breakfast Program

Corporate Giving Roundtable
Leadership in San Diego's Community Investment: An All Corporate Members Meeting
March 23, 2006
8:00 am - 10:00 am
Location: University Club Atop Symphony Towers, 750 B Street, Suite 3400, San Diego, CA 92101
Breakfast Roundtable

All programs are free for SDG members except where indicated. To RSVP, please call (619) 744-2180 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org.

University of San Diego Nonprofit Leadership & Management Program
Ethics Dialogue Series
2nd Thursdays, 7:30-9:00am (1/12, 2/9, 3/9, 4/13, 5/11)
USD Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice
San Diego, CA

Each session is free and includes breakfast. Register online here, or by phone at (619) 260-7442.

The Grantmaking School
Advanced Proposal Analysis: A Critical Examination of Complex Issues
January 18-20, 2006
New Orleans, Louisiana

Specially designed for foundation professionals with two to five years of grantmaking experience, this course can help you advance your knowledge and skills. For more information, click here.

PRI Makers Network First Annual Conference
January 18-20, 2006
Palo Alto, CA

The PRI Makers Network, a new association of grantmakers who use program-related and other investments to accomplish their philanthropic goals, is pleased to present its first annual conference. Register online here.

Innovation Funders Network 2006 Summit:
"Networks, Innovation and Social Change"
January 30-31, 2006
San Francisco, CA

The Innovation Funders Network 2006 Summit will convene funders and invited affiliate organizations and thought leaders from around the world to explore the role of innovation and networks in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Click here for more information.

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations 2006 National Conference: "Powerful Partnerships: Grantmakers Practices That Improve Grantee Performance"
March 8-10, 2006
Atlanta, GA

Grantmakers are only successful to the extent that their grantees achieve meaningful results. This conference will focus on how grantmakers can improve their practices to leverage grantee performance. Click here for program details and information.

Feel free to comment, suggest article ideas, or submit news items to nancy@SDGrantmakers.org -- We're always happy to hear from you. This online update is a service to San Diego Grantmakers members. Copies of past editions are archived here: News You Can Use.

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