As economy recovers, so do local community benefit groups
 Town Crier File Photo A volunteer for the Community Services Agency prepares a cooler of milk for distribution throughout the community. |
Nearly five years out from the dot-com crash, area non-profit organizations have adjusted to an economic climate where local need is great, yet local generosity is keeping up with it.
Local organizations have risen to the challenge by finding new ways to reach contributors and collaborating to share resources and experience. They benefit from the fact that even in harder times, the community is still ready to contribute.
The Town Crier’s annual Holiday Fund, for instance, has seen sizable increases every year since the fund first began in the year 2000. Proceeds from the Holiday Fund benefit a dozen non-profit organizations helping the needy.
The Town Crier contacted a sampling of local foundations and groups ranging from the Community Services Agency (CSA) to the Los Altos Rotary Club to examine their current status. A list of local non-profits with contact information is featured on page 10.
CSA forges new partnerships, fund-raising avenues
“When the economy turns south and gets bad and our donations start to go bad, in a regular type of business that also means the number of clients is going down,” Executive Director Tom Myers said. “In our line of work, the client numbers actually increase.”
The agency is the area’s social safety net, providing emergency food and housing support for families in distress, care for the elderly and myriad of other programs.
CSA serves Los Altos primarily through its care for seniors, many of whom bought homes in Los Altos 50 or even 60 years ago. Case managers work with seniors on fixed incomes in their own homes. But low-income individuals and families of all ages also live in Los Altos and use CSA’s services. Its emergency assistance program has seen a 40 percent increase in clients overall in the last five years, which Myers credits to the economy.
Myers said that with the right people and systems in place, an agency like CSA can accommodate large increases in client load. He attributes strong reserves, a highly capable staff and 700 volunteers as measures of the agency’s success.
“We also have resources of knowledge and referrals, a network, as well as bags of food,” Myers said. “We can’t do everything ourselves, we need to know where to refer people.”
The agency’s most exciting recent development is a partnership with Hidden Villa, the non-profit local farm and nature preserve. Half of the produce harvested from its community-supported organic farm, about 40,000 pounds, will head to the CSA food and nutrition center this year.
“This is a concerted effort on their part to make sure the neediest families are fed,” Myers said. “This is very big, two of the longest-standing organizations in our area combining to get good, healthful food to low-income families.”
After several years of decreased donations to CSA, this past year saw a slight upturn.
“The trend looks good,” Development Director Jim Boin said. “The community is very supportive and we’re discovering new sources of funding and revenue.”
Corporate giving is one area of growth for the organization, which just received new funding from Cisco Systems and Kaiser Permanente. He said that the organization continues to find more resources, despite the economic downturn and the many humanitarian crises last year.
“Donor fatigue was one of those press-created buzz words. I don’t think people can be fatigued when it comes to compassion,” Boin said.
Packard Foundation keepsLos Altos a priority
Because 80 percent of the foundation’s assets took the form of HP stock, the organization’s endowment soared to more than $11 billion in 2000, then plummeted to about $3 billion in the ensuing dot-com crash. Over the past few years, the foundation has diversified its assets, with HP and Agilent stock comprising only 10 percent of the endowment.
“It’s difficult to do program planning (with) the level of volatility (that comes from) being heavily invested in one or two stocks,” foundation communications director Chris Decardy said. With a diversified portfolio, the growth of the foundation’s endowment is tied directly to overall changes in the marketplace rather than changes at HP. Decardy said the endowment was “not terrific this year, but allowed for steady programming and a slight increase in the grants budget.”
Decardy said that despite the downturn in HP’s stock, the foundation has kept its support of the Los Altos area steady. The foundation dedicates about $300,000 every year to Los Altos non-profits, including $150,000 to the Los Altos Community Foundation, which then disburses the money in specific smaller grants. This year the foundation also funded docent training for Music for Minors, the Peninsula Symphony and the Community School of Music and Arts.
The economic downturn has challenged the organization to diversify funding not only through shifting endowments and seeking new grants, but also developing new strategies to utilize the Internet, membership engagement and different fund-raising techniques, Decardy said.
Grantees of the foundation are eligible to apply for its $3 million organizational effectiveness program, which focuses on elements such as fund development, board recruitment and strategic business planning.
Regional organizationsemphasize leadership, education
Community Foundation Silicon Valley, based in San Jose, is the 10th largest non-profit organization in the country and doles out generous cash gifts - up to $20,000 to smaller non-profit groups. By the end of May, the foundation had awarded $83 million to the 12 other foundations under its umbrella such as the Health Trust’s overcoming child obesity program and the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley programs. Community grants fund ongoing programs that support an early literacy initiative and various performing arts groups in the Bay Area.
The foundation’s Director of Communications Michelle McGurk said that families and individual donors may create specific funds for charities of their choice starting at $10,000. Experienced staff members handle the background work, researching tax-reduction options for their clients while introducing them to an array of organizations for their selection.
McGurk explained that while there was a significant downturn in gifts between 2000 and 2001, donation levels tend to reflect the national and local economic climate.
The Peninsula Foundation, a major funding source for non-profits throughout the South Bay, establishes large funds directed toward the organization designated. The foundation’s spokeswoman Laura Bradley Davis said that the group’s $612 million endowment fund made a significant jump in the dot-com years and has steadily recovered since. Increasing awareness about community needs, though, tends to remain the most challenging and important catalyst for fund raising, she said.
“It’s a challenging area that we live in, in terms of fund raising. We have tremendous wealth and resources and yet there’s not always a complete recognition of the need,” Davis said.
Facing economic challenges, non-profits have experienced a higher turnover rate among its leaders and executive directors in recent years, said Molly Polidoroff, executive director for the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits, a training program based in Milpitas for non-profit leaders. The center, currently comprised of 100 non-profit board members, hosts several seminars each month to work with leaders on struggles with finances, addressing the needs of clients and other governance issues.
The most important issue facing the non-profit sector in recent years is the loss of its top leaders, Polidoroff said. Falling on hard times, many executives are finding it difficult to leverage much out of fewer resources. Their jobs can easily become stressful.
“The statistics are alarming. Anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent of our local non-profit executives will not be here in the next four to five years. The major focus of our programs is on sustainability and renewal these days,” she said.
Sam Pesner, president of the Los Altos Rotary Club said the group has been fortunate and that the club’s annual fund-raiser - the fine art show - is still profitable.
“At least from the Los Altos perspective, we’ve been lucky,” Pesner said. Matching funds for the club’s international projects has also remained consistent in the last five years, according to Pesner.
Schools foundations manage economic swings
Fay said that while the foundation experiences slowdowns, overall it has been able to increase its contributions each year for the Los Altos School District. The foundation raised $1.45 million for the district last year and has a target of $1.55 million for the following school year.
“I hear from parents and they still want to make this a priority,” Fay said. “They appreciate the well-rounded education that the state can’t provide.”
LAEF raises money to make curriculum improvements. They fund programs in physical education, technology, science, instrumental and vocal music instruction, art docent training, class-size reduction at junior highs and computer instruction.
“It’s a broad base of enrichment programs that teaches to the whole child,” she said. “These things would not be available if the foundation were not raising funds.”
Each year the foundation raises money by an annual phoneathon in September, working with local realtors, reaching out to alumni and parents of alumni and gaining local sponsors for the district Junior Olympics.
The Mountain View-Los Altos High School Foundation raises funds in support of the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District.
Current foundation Treasurer Jeannie Bruins said the dot-com bust initially made it harder to raise money for the schools because many of the donors had lost their jobs, while others feared losing their jobs.
During the time leading up to the dot-com crash in 2000, the foundation was able to raise funds 11 percent each year. In 2003-2004 the foundation board felt they could take a more aggressive position in their ability to raise money. In the following years they were able to increase their donation 30 percent each year.
In response to the slump in the economy, the foundation strengthened their message to their donor base by putting more emphasis on programs that resonated within the community.
The money raised by the high school foundation goes toward class-size reduction in English and math classes, in turn the district receives some funds from the state for the reduction. The foundation supports the tutorial centers and college/career centers at the high schools.
The foundation kicks off its annual fund raising by mailing requests for contributions to past and present donors. It follows the mailers with a fall phone-athon, usually hosted at a local real estate agency.
“Our community values education,” Bruins said. “Many of us benefited directly from receiving great educations and we want the same for our children.”
- Eliza Ridgeway, Megan Ma and Traci Newell contributed to this report.
