by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
It is a painful truth in the world of philanthropy that when the economy is slow, giving goes down at the same time need goes up. And while local charities and philanthropic organizations are weathering the storm well, they all have less money overall and it is new programs and in-house operations that are suffering the most.
“Basically, we’re taking this time to tell non-profit organizations and social services agencies to take a step back, take a deep breath and take a tough look at their basic financial statements,” said Sherry Magill, the executive director of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, a $300 million grant-making foundation. “We’re all hurting.”
Jacksonville’s Community Foundation, a $70 million grant-making foundation that directs strategic giving to a myriad of local non-profits, had a fund balance of about $2 million less in 2001 than it did in 2000. And so far, 2002 is looking even more peaked. In order to keep their level of grant-making consistent, they had to practically eliminate their marketing budget and reduce their staff to 14 from 11. They also reduced the size of their annual report and have cut back on printing and publishing costs. A major event usually sponsored by the Foundation had to seek other funding sources.
“When our portfolio is hurting and people have less money to give, then we are forced to cut back on operations,” said Nina Waters, the Foundation’s executive vice president. “We do our best not to take the money away from the charities who need it.”
According to Waters, the Community Foundation utilizes relatively sophisticated investment processes that ensure that even in a down economy, its money stays relatively in tact.
“We’re fortunate enough to have investment managers and investment consultants who know how to navigate through tough times,” she said. “We have a good mix of stocks, bonds and cash and we are very conservative; most of our investments are designed for the long term.”
But that doesn’t mean the last 18 months haven’t been rocky.
“Not nearly as many people are setting up new funds,” said Waters, referring to the system the Community Foundation uses to establish individual donor’s funds and then pool the resources. “And people are becoming much more specific about where their money can go.”
Still reeling from a study released recently in which Florida’s wealthy taxpayers ranked 49 out of 50 in charitable contributions nationwide, duPont’s Magill and six other grant-making foundations have formed the Florida Philanthropic Network to research and promote more giving. The duPont Fund has also recently hired the Urban Institute out of Washington, D.C. to perform a study about what happens to state money once it is allocated to social services agencies. Information like that helps duPont form a more cohesive vision about where their money should go.
“I’d say the real story is what is happening to public dollars,” said Magill, whose fund’s grant-making was down about $3 million to $15 million in 2001. “When the State cuts funding for children and vulnerable populations, like the elderly, those groups lean on private foundations.”
Magill sees her role, at least in part, as educating public policy makers on the details of how non-profits operate. And while the duPont Fund is restricted to serving charities that duPont herself specified, a major part of the decision-making process for Magill is how to help those who have recently fallen victim to the crunch in public funds.
“We are certainly discouraging all new programs right now,” she said. “And since we try to support mission-driven organizations, that becomes very difficult.”
According to Magill, there are 500 non-profit organizations in Jacksonville that earned at least $25,000 — the minimum amount it takes to file a tax return. Magill said she regularly meets with members of City Council to find out how public officials interpret the non-profit sector.
“It’s nice to sit down with these people and not talk about roads, sewers and technology, but people,” she said.
Another organization that said its focus shifts with the shifting economy is the Jaguars Foundation, a corporate foundation that is less dependent on the market as long as the Jaguars and Wayne Weaver are making money.
The Jaguars Foundation gives out a little more than $1 million a year in grants to local charities and tries to find organizations that may have been impacted by State cutbacks.
“We like to support educational and community-related causes,” said Peter Racine, executive director of the Jaguars Foundation. “When we recently heard that the A.L. Lewis Center, which runs a program called Community Connections on the Northside lost $160,000 in state dollars, we knew it was a great program so we funded it.”
Racine also said that most often it is new programs that get hit the hardest during a slow economy.
“There will always be some that we like so much that we will support, but more often than not we see our role as helping established groups.”
But sometimes those groups, he notes, have new programs.
Racine said the next big focus for the Jaguars Foundation will be health care. Currently, they, along with the duPont Foundation and the United Way have commissioned Jacksonville University to study teen health issues in Duval County.
“The economy, combined with Sept. 11, is making it tough out there,” said Racine. “We’re going to try to help where we can by providing assistance and working with the House of Representatives to get some of the funding reinstated.”
Dr. John Howe, who runs the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, an $11 million national fund with an education focus, said that in the foundation world generally, people have less money right now. But, he said, it will be a few more months before he will be able to evaluate the impact the most recent downturn on his foundation.
“2001 was much worse than 2000 and this year will be worse than that,” said Howe. “But we’re still in significantly better shape than we were in the mid-1990s.”
Although Howe said the Davis Foundation will meet all of its obligations this year, “they don’t make multi-year commitments, so they are able to evaluate the climate before they over-extend themselves.”
Howe said he and others in the world of giving are all watching the market closely and hoping that a recovery will come soon.
“We’re all very eager to see what happens,” he said.