A 'perfect storm' of pressure for philanthropic community

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A 'perfect storm' of pressure for philanthropic community

Regardless, Joyce Foundation president excited about generational shift
October 30, 2011

The Joyce Foundation pours about $40 million each year into some of the Great Lakes region's most pressing issues: destructive Asian carp, adult workers displaced by the recession and improving the quality of teachers in grades kindergarten through 12.

The foundation, which holds more than $800 million in assets, is among the local hosts of the Independent Sector Annual Conference, an annual gathering of more than 1,000 nonprofits and grant-makers. The Tribune asked the foundation's president, Ellen Alberding, about some of the trends and challenges foundations are facing.

Pressures on the philanthropic community: We have a perfect storm for a lot of people in our business. You have increased demand for the services that the nonprofit community provides to the public; at the same time, you have reduced resources from government, individuals as well as foundations. The government provides the most funds, the individuals next and the foundations provide a smaller slice of the pie. When you combine the increased need and the reduced resources it makes it tough for everyone.

How the Joyce Foundation deals with grant-making in a tough economy: We do what any good business person would do when faced with reduced resources. We have become very focused on first maintaining support of our core grantees. Foundations are required to spend a minimum amount — 5 percent of our assets. On occasion, we will overspend that in order to keep our grantees whole. We've tried to cushion the blow for our grantees.

A new generation and philanthropy: There's an interesting generational shift that is important to understand and address. As younger people are emerging as leaders in their own right, there's a different view of institutions and how individuals interact with institutions. That's really exciting. Younger people are bold, and they are innovators. They work on their own and are not afraid to start something up. People aren't necessarily following the traditional paths as they come out of college, sometimes out of necessity. There's an attitudinal shift.

The political climate challenges grant-makers: Extreme political partisanship, at the federal level in particular, could lead to gridlock on solving important problems. I think that's a really bad environment for all of us to work in. For example, we spent a lot of time trying to affect climate-change issues; we have invested in carbon-trading schemes in the Midwest. None of that matters if there's no federal climate legislation. It goes to naught if you can't get a climate bill through Congress.

President Barack Obama's proposal to cap the charitable tax deduction: It's the position of the Independent Sector that a cap will reduce charitable contributions across the board and diminish support for nonprofit organizations. I believe it's the administration's view that the 28 percent cap might have some impact, but it wouldn't have a dire impact. (But) I think we have to listen to the organizations themselves, who feel otherwise. It is important to remember that individual donors are the single largest source of donations in the country, and that's not commonly understood. Anything that would have an impact on that should be watched carefully.

— Corilyn Shropshire

Please read complete article at link below:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-1030-bf-philanthropy-outlook-grant-maker-20111030,0,3527334.story

Editor's note: I wonder how the Joyce Foundation feels about the crooked Probate Court of Cook County "Pre-treating and siphoning off" the assets of its prospective donors' estates.  These contributions reductions along with Obama's 28% cap mandate a reduction in voluntary contributions to Joyce Foundation. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com