Dear Friend of the East Bay Community Foundation,

In the face of continuing news about the possibility the recession is ending, we at the East Bay Community Foundation look forward to a resurgence of interest in philanthropy by individuals, families and organizations. Even at the depths of the recession, we continued doing what we've always done: advising our donors so they make the best investments for their philanthropic dollars, providing administrative assistance for our donors' grantmaking, and amplifying our already broad and deep knowledge of and relationships with those non-profit organizations that get results.

As your clients enter or return to the philanthropic marketplace, we're here to work with you to ensure your clients become gratified philanthropists. (See especially, the item below, "Post-Recession Philanthropy Trend: A Need for Strategy") As always, we intend this newsletter to keep you up-to-date on important issues and upcoming events.

Sincerely,

Nicole Taylor
President & CEO

SAVE THE DATE: For Board Members of Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit Mergers Explored: How to Gain Organizational Efficiencies in Difficult Financial Times

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Seminar: 4:30 - 6:00 pm; Reception: 6:00-7:00 pm

East Bay Community Foundation - The James Irvine
Foundation Conference Center
353 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612

Speaker: Bob Harrington, Director, Strategic Restructuring Practice, La Piana Consulting

As a Board member, what are the questions you should be asking in these tough economic times to assess your organization's health? What are your options to gain efficiencies and position yourself most effectively to survive and thrive? In this workshop, we will:

• Outline the key questions you need to be asking your leadership team to determine organizational health.
• Identify funding trends which can help and hurt you.
• Detail the different restructuring options available to your organization.
• Provide you with examples of possibilities and pitfalls.

To register, click here.

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New Director of Development

We're very pleased to introduce to you our new Director of Development, Giles G. Miller, who is responsible for developing new business and for working with professional financial advisors, estate planning attorneys, certified public accountants and their clients.

Giles joins us from Catholic Charities Catholic Youth Organization in San Francisco where he was the Major Gifts Officer since 2006. In this position, he worked to solicit large gifts and raised over $2.5MM per year for various programs.

Before that, he was Director of Alumni Relations at Saint Mary's College in Moraga for seven years where he developed, implemented and managed alumni outreach. Giles has a B.A. from Saint Mary's College.

In his position, Giles succeeds Sara DuBois, who left the Foundation to be a full-time mom to her new baby boy. Giles can be contacted directly at 510.208.0828 or at gmiller@eastbaycf.org.

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Post Recession Philanthropy Trend: A Need for Strategy

We see many of those engaged in philanthropy with a new priority as a result of the "Great Recession." They're becoming more selective with their giving.

Individuals, families and corporations alike are directing their giving toward issues they care about most, toward organizations that fit within their priorities, and toward those entities and programs that achieve the kinds of results that meet with their approval.

In other words, donors now want their charitable giving to be more meaningful than ever - and that demands a strategy or a plan. We have staff who specialize in working with donors to develop their giving plans and strategies.

Typically, the process begins with a set of initial questions:

• What are your basic values?
• How have these values been expressed through your giving?
• In the past, why have you made the gifts you made?
• What have been your most significant gifts?
• Do you know whether your efforts have made a difference?
• Which of your gifts have given you the most satisfaction? Why?
• Which have given you the least satisfaction? Why?
• What would you like to accomplish in the larger world with your giving?

But those questions are just the beginning. We have the expertise to take those answers and apply to them our deep knowledge of needs and of organizations and programs that get results. For more information on how we help with plans and strategies for philanthropy, contact Director of Development Giles Miller at 510.208.0828 or at gmiller@eastbaycf.org.

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How One Family Created New, Young Philanthropists

When Edward Chan of Lafayette opened a charitable fund with us five years ago honoring his recently deceased wife, May Yee, he wanted to collaborate with his grown son and daughters in making grants to worthy causes. Over the years he did just that, contributing to the Alzheimer's Association of Northern California, Asian Health Services, Lafayette Library, Self-Help for the Elderly and other worthy causes.

But recently, the Chans decided to make their philanthropy even more of a "family affair" by launching their "Summer Community Service Project," providing an opportunity for involvement of the Chan grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Ten participated, aged 6 to 15 years old.

The plan went like this: The kids would complete at least 20 hours of community service with a non-profit organization, and then prepare an oral and written report on their experience in order to request a grant of up to $500 for their chosen organizations.

The kids completed their community service and presented their reports. Result: Not only did the kids learn the satisfaction of helping others, they also began to realize that they can make a difference. And The Edward and May Yee Chan Foundation recently awarded seven grants totaling $2,900 to non-profit organizations involved in education and animal welfare.

"All of us are pleased that the work of our foundation now includes three generations of our family," said Edward Chan. And we're proud to help the Chan family create new, young philanthropists who want to make our region a better place.

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