Archive for the ‘JBA News & Notes’ Category
The Powerball Winner: Sharing in Good Fortune
Posted by JBA in JBA News & Notes, Uncategorized on January 30th, 2012
By Jennifer Furla
Executive Vice President
Recently, a convenience store customer in Minnesota won the Powerball – at $229 million. While the lucky winner had not yet revealed himself, accompanying the story was the ubiquitous security cam picture of the transaction that suggests it was a 30-something male. The winner has one year to present him/herself and can take the winnings in installments over a 30-year period, or take a lump sum of $123 million.
As fundraisers, we often dream of finding that lottery winner among our donor prospect pool. With strong values of giving, I suspect that many of us dream of what we would do if we were to purchase that winning ticket? In our house, we’ve talked about it as a family. Give to our favorite causes. In my case, possibly help complete a campaign goal for a lucky client?
For this week’s winner, $123 million after taxes — even invested in simple CDs at 1.55% — will generate some $600,000-plus per year.
I met a lottery winner not long ago. Sitting on the wharf outside our hotel for the Giving Institute and International AFP Conference in Baltimore, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman who sidled up to me with his family, all dressed in matching athletic suits. Turns out they were in town for the man to receive medical treatment for a highly complex medical condition at Johns Hopkins University.
He talked about winning $150 million in the Canadian Lottery. He was from Ottawa, on the western side of the country and was among the First Nations peoples of Canada – the native, aboriginal peoples, akin to the American Indian.
He talked about how it changed his life and his family’s. In Canada, he said, all winnings are immediately paid out, lump sum and tax free to the winner. He purchased a new home for his family. He paid to fix up the homes of near relatives. Of course, took a couple of once-in-a-lifetime, memory-making trips (to Disneyworld in Orlando, if I recall correctly). His good fortune was paying for the trip and treatment at Johns Hopkins.
Then there was charity. He built schools for the children of his Indian Nation and endowed those schools so they could maintain the new buildings and populate them with programs and staff. He established a Trust that will provide scholarships for the youth of the Nation. He made a large gift to the Tribal Council to help families in need.
At the hotel, he became interested in another conference that was taking place there – for families of children of autism. “How could he help, he asked?” He understood what was “enough” for his family and him and wanted to share his good fortune.
I do not know if the connections he made that day resulted in support for the autism group, but can only imagine the number of causes this man and his family have since sought to help – and will in the future. For us in the profession, this lottery winner serves as an example of unselfish philanthropy – love of brother.
As my son would say, “Now, those are real heroes. People like that.”
Photos from the Erie, PA workshop
Posted by JBA in JBA News & Notes, Uncategorized on April 28th, 2010
JBA held another fundraising workshop, this time in Erie, PA at the Penn state Behrend campus, where Tom Murray, Gary Rick, and Jeffrey Byrne presented to 23 participants. Thanks to all who attended!
Want to attend one near you? Visit our website for a list of upcoming workshops.
JB&A’ Jennifer Furla quoted in article about donations to Haiti
Posted by JBA in Fundraising in a Recession, JBA News & Notes, Uncategorized on January 25th, 2010
JB&A’s Jennifer Furla was quoted in last Friday’s Kansas City Star. “American generosity yields outpouring of donations for Haitian quake relief,” by Debra Skodack, examines Americans’ rapid outpouring of generosity in the wake of the devastating Haitian earthquake. Philanthropic professionals are amazed at the response, which matches donations after the 2005 Asian tsunami, when the U.S. economy was more robust than it is now.
Also noted in the article is a measure which passed congress last week allowing taxpayers to write off donations made to Haitian relief on their 2009 taxes.
Katrina, Tsunami Lessons Can Drive Haiti Fundraising
Posted by JBA in Giving USA, JBA News & Notes on January 19th, 2010
The following is a recent news release from the Giving Institute and the GivingUSA Foundation. We are sharing it here because it is of interest to our community – both as professionals in fund raising and as compassionate individuals. JB&A is a member of the Giving Institute, and our own Jennifer Furla serves secretary of the board of the GivingUSA Foundation.
Glenview, IL (Jan. 20, 2010) – How much will Americans end up donating to the Haitian earthquake relief efforts? If past disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami provide guidance for today’s efforts, the result is likely to be in the billions.
In 2006, for example, Giving USA Foundation reported that American individuals, corporations and foundations donated $7.37 billion in 2005 for disaster relief in the aftermaths of the hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Asian tsunami and an earthquake in Pakistan. An additional $1.17 billion was raised for hurricane relief in 2006.
Giving USA Foundation and Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits, urge citizens to give wisely, yet cautiously. The two organizations, headquartered in Glenview, Ill., have been tracking charitable contributions since 1954, and also provide advice to non-profit organizations around the world. The emotionally draining images being broadcast are riveting and striking, and bolster the natural desire of Americans to respond to need; they donated an estimated $307.65 billion to charity in 2008.
Facts are hard to come by right now from the island nation of Haiti, and they keep changing hour-by-hour as the world tries to come to grips with the devastation suffered there in the aftermath of the 7.0 earthquake last Tuesday. Americans—generous by nature–are looking for the best ways to aid those who need it most.
Looking to lessons learned in the aftermath of recent disasters, Foundation Chair Edith H. Falk, CFRE, and Institute Chair Nancy L. Raybin, speaking on behalf of the 35 member firms of Giving Institute and the board of the Foundation, offer advice to both non-profits working in the trenches of relief efforts and to Americans who want to help.
First, for relief organizations, don’t overlook corporate partners. Corporations donated $1.38 billion in 2005 for disaster relief efforts. While, as always, the bulk of donations came from individuals ($5.83 billion in 2005), companies can have a role to play in this most-recent crisis.
If past is, indeed, prologue, then the bulk of the donations will go to human service organizations providing for basic needs, such as the Red Cross. For smaller organizations that do not have the same high profile as the Red Cross, getting your message out to donors will be difficult, but not impossible. With this crisis, electronic communications such as text messaging, Facebook, Twitter and email seem to be driving the appeals process; use these tools to alert potential donors of the work you do, and provide back-up information on your website. Make it easy for potential donors to feel comfortable that their contribution is going to be used responsibly.
For individuals looking to do the most good with their dollars, the two groups provide the following advice:
- Check out the charity through groups such as Guidestar, www.guidestar.org, and the Better Business Bureau, www.bbb.org, to ensure it is legitimate
- Donate to reputable organizations that are known for their expertise in times of disaster and for making sure that money gets to the right places
- Investigate how a charity intends to spend the dollars raised and who will cover the administrative costs
- Read the guidelines published by the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov/HaitiEarthquake to find out the best ways to help victims and groups that are helping those affected by the hurricane
- Resist the urge to go to the damaged area to provide help; watch for news of requests for volunteers. At this time, volunteers are being actively discouraged from trying to travel to Haiti
- Those looking to donate time, supplies or funds should contact the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) at 703/276-1914, or visit them online at http://www.cidi.org/incident/haiti-10a/
JBA Campaign Client in the News
Posted by JBA in JBA News & Notes on November 10th, 2009
JBA’s own Judy Keller is quoted in this article about Lawrence, Kan., institution, Ecumenical Christian Ministries and its capital campaign that is successfully rolling ahead (even in these beleaguered economic times). The campaign, for which JBA is a consultant, is about one-third of the way to its fundraising goal.
This Lawrence Journal-World article describes how the ECM building has been an important part of the University of Kansas campus and Lawrence community for 50 years. Recently designated a National Historic Landmark, the ECM building is scheduled for much-needed capital maintenance and upgrades to help it last another 50 years.
Go to Sacred landmark: Capital campaign drives changes at ECM in its 50th year at KU