National Philanthropy Day

A Helping Hand

The Association of Fundraising Professionals offers workshops, lectures and a network for individuals looking to gain knowledge in the world of giving.

When Megan Coyle joined the ALS Association’s Northern Ohio Chapter as the development and special event coordinator, she didn’t have a lot of experience organizing fundraisers and auctions.

“I had run events in my previous job, but running a fundraiser with a nonprofit organization is a little bit different,” Coyle says. “I was working in college athletics running basketball games, all the promotional and music side of things. A fundraiser with a nonprofit, with your volunteers and your board volunteers, it’s definitely a different animal.”

Through a referral from her former boss at Cleveland State University, Coyle learned about the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

To gain the knowledge and networking she needs to successfully raise money for her organization, Coyle, along with hundreds of other Clevelanders, looks to the AFP, which promotes ethical practices in philanthropy and provides educational programs including workshops and lectures.

On Saturdays, Coyle took an AFP seven-week course, which touched on topics such as event management. In charge of four ALS walks and one Strike Out ALS auction every year, Coyle learned about the important role board members play in fundraising events and how to utilize volunteers.

“How do you fit in your everyday volunteers who are going to be there to put together baskets and help set up the room and things like that?” Coyle says. “I think learning the volunteer management part of the event was something that was very valuable.”

Nationally, the AFP has been around for almost 50 years and has more than 200 chapters and 30,000 members. Greater Cleveland was one of the first chapters and has 350 members representing 200 organizations. The chapter has been recognized as one of the top AFP chapters in the country, earning a 10 star rating.

“Cleveland has been a hub of philanthropy for years and is well known for that,” says AFP Greater Cleveland Chapter President Carol Carbary. “The Cleveland Foundation is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States. We’ve had giving and philanthropy at the heart of Cleveland for so long.”

> The Importance of AFP

As the director of development at Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center, Deborah Miller is responsible for all aspects of fundraising to keep the local nonprofit running effectively.

“A lot of our clients are on Medicaid. The reimbursement from Medicaid covers about 55 to 60 percent of our unit cost for speech-language therapy, so we have a gap,” Miller says. “And that’s where fundraising plays a role.”

By being a member of AFP, Miller benefits not only from her local chapter but the national organization as well. Locally, she learns about annual funds, major gifts solicitation, donor development and donor relations, but nationally, members receive a monthly magazine and have access to an international roster of other members to whom they can connect.

“Where AFP helps is the training that it provides and educational sessions. Fundraising in general is a huge workload and it’s one of those jobs where no matter how much you do there’s always more to do,” says Miller, who has been an AFP member since 1992. “When it’s time to hire additional staff, it can be very helpful getting recommendations from my colleagues.”

One of the important things Miller learned through AFP is how to work with her board on fundraising.

“Trying to get my board more geared towards fundraising is really important, especially in a nonprofit organization,” Miller says. “It’s more about showing the individual board members how your connections and your enthusiasm can really help Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center and can bring in revenue. Ultimately, if we don’t do that, the mission isn’t served.”

Carbary believes that having an organization dedicated to philanthropy not only gives credibility to its members but also helps keep fundraising skills up-to-date and can help guide members through complex issues often associated with planned giving.

“You still get people who associate fundraisers with used car salesmen or fundraising scandals where the money doesn’t always go where you always thought it was going to go,” Carbary says. “What we’re doing is we’re working for organizations that we have a passion for, and we’re trying to change and improve the organization and improve the circumstances for the public that we serve.”

> National Philanthropy Day

The efforts of fundraisers such as Miller and Coyle are celebrated on Nov. 6 with the Greater Cleveland Chapter’s 26th annual National Philanthropy Day. This event, open to members and nonmembers, is held to recognize the efforts of local philanthropists.

Presenting morning and afternoon workshops for
National Philanthropy Day is Jerold Panas, executive partner at Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners, one of the most well-respected firms for campaign services and financial resource development. Panas will be presenting during a two-part morning workshop for development staff and volunteers as well as an afternoon workshop for senior development staff, CEOs and board chairs. Panas has written several books that are considered some of the most important in the field of philanthropy and has been involved professionally in fundraising for more than 40 years.

Held at Signature of LaCentre in Westlake, National Philanthropy Day also features an awards luncheon, recognizing local philanthropists in four categories: Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer, Philanthropist Leadership, Corporate Leadership and Foundation Leadership.

In a tough economy, many fundraisers are finding it more difficult to raise money. NPD event chair Beth Brown knows that it’s more important than ever to
receive education in order to make the most out of fundraisers.

“It’s a challenging time, and I think it calls upon fundraising professionals and volunteers to be very strategic and clear about their mission,” Brown says.

She believes the AFP can be especially helpful to nonprofits that only have one or two people involved in fundraising and development because of the connections made and the knowledge about best practices
for fundraising.

AFP hosts events year-round that are open to members and nonmembers — the biggest
being NPD.

“It’s really such a feel-good day, a day that often brings tears,” Carbary says. “We’re thanking the people who support organizations that make a difference in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.”

Why join AFP?

Although many AFP events are open to both members and nonmembers, there are several benefits to joining or renewing memberships, including reduced rates on all AFP events such as Web seminars, National Philanthropy Day, luncheon presentations and more. A one-year AFP membership starts as low as $100. And more than 60 percent of Greater Cleveland AFP members have their memberships paid for by their organizations.

Members also can become eligible to receive scholarships for the 2010 AFP international conference in Baltimore and can receive weekly national e-mails with news and job openings.

“[Memberships] give you access to documents that nonmembers don’t have, such as our membership roster. Nationally, you can view the entire international roster, which can connect you with people,” Carbary says. “It also gets you a magazine on philanthropy that comes monthly.”

For more reasons to join, visit www.afpcleveland.org.

Getting Creative

A look at how organizations are taking philanthropy to the next level

Money’s tight. So if you are in the field of fundraising, everything from finding volunteers to planning events (not to mention raising funds) just got tougher. But it can be done. It just takes some imagination and inventive planning. Here’s a look at a few nonprofits and how they’ve succeeded.

> The Lakeland Foundation

Raising scholarship funds during a recession isn’t easy — just ask Bob Cahen, executive director and director of development for The Lakeland Foundation, the nonprofit support organization for Lakeland Community College. But the foundation’s innovative approach to fundraising and volunteer development is injecting some youthful exuberance into the program.

“We’ve noticed recently that age is an issue on nonprofit boards,” Cahen says. “More and more you have the same gray-haired guys picking the other gray-haired guys to be on these boards and not looking at younger people.”

Called the Next Generation campaign, The Lakeland Foundation is using the
volunteer work of young professionals to yield a more diverse group of donors, while developing them for community leadership roles.

“The Next Generation means that the volunteers who are actually making the campaign happen are largely people under 40 years old,” Cahen says.

Through making the phone calls and visiting prospective donors, these volunteers gain valuable knowledge in fundraising through the program firsthand rather than reading about it in a classroom.

“We could send them to courses all day, and we did some classroom type things, but the reality is the way to learn is to do,” Cahen says. “And this group has been out there actually soliciting donations.”

This is no easy task. As Cahen points out, instead of using traditional older persons, usually board volunteers to raise money, the foundation is also focusing their energy on the development of these young philanthropists.

“It would be a whole lot quicker to bring in a team of professionals to go out and raise the money than it is having volunteers,” says Cahen. “This is a lot more complicated doing it this way. But there is a program goal to the campaign that makes it all worthwhile — developing young leaders to take their place in the community.”

Cahen cites the overwhelming support from the Ohio College Access Network, which granted them significant resources to help raise scholarship funds, and Lakeland Community College for giving The Lakeland Foundation an opportunity to use creative approaches to support the continuing education of Northeast Ohio students while developing new leaders in the philanthropy world.

“The college is an interesting place for innovation,” Cahen says. “And the administration here, and especially the president, allows us to dream and create.”

> Towards Employment

Interviews can be scary. From a firm handshake to maintaining eye contact to answering questions, there’s a lot involved in making a good first impression.

To help Towards Employment, an agency providing job readiness services to individuals with barriers to employment, including those with involvement in the criminal justice system, employees from KeyBank volunteered their expertise in interviewing during the Key’s Neighbors Make a Difference Day.

KeyBank volunteers held mock interviews with Towards Employment clients and gave feedback on resumes, advice on appropriate interview attire and more.

“Our clients get very nervous,” says Towards Employment executive director Jill Rizika. “And being able to still answer the questions appropriately when you’re nervous, that’s an important part of the practice.”

Engaging in conversation with those working in the corporate setting gives clients valuable experience.

“It’s one thing to interview with staff and spend time with them, everyone who goes to our program has at least two mock interviews, but we like to have at least one done by an outside person and a real employer,” Rizika says.

The KeyBank staff worked with clients both in a group and one-on-one to help them improve and refine their interview skills. Being exposed to individuals from different aspects of the corporate world also gives clients the confidence they need when it’s time for the real interview.

“What was new for some of the KeyBank volunteers was delivering feedback and coaching on responses to questions about a client’s criminal background. We work with clients to help explain what happened in the past and how things will be different in the future,” Rizika says. “I think it was really very rewarding and eye-opening for many of the volunteers.”

> Cleveland Scholarship Programs

Sunny skies and well-mowed fairways weren’t enough to keep many golf-outing fundraisers out of the rough in an economically tough year.

Yet one event found a way not only to survive, but also grow this year: Cleveland Scholarship Programs’ 13th Annual Malone Golf Classic, which supports the scholarship fund of WMJI’s Jimmy Malone.

With more than 100 sponsors, proceeds hit $120,000 — down only slightly from last year — while the number of golfers increased to 162 from 148. Such a draw will allow Malone to fund scholarships for 34 deserving students from Cuyahoga and Lorain counties this year alone. Many sponsors have already pledged support for the 2010 event.

The key to the Malone Classic’s success? “The students [who have received Malone scholarships] all come to the golf classic, and you get to talk to them about their aspirations and goals,” says Linda Prosak, CSP’s chief development officer. “We can talk about who we serve, but when [donors] can actually meet the kids, it’s so much more powerful.”

Past and present recipients mix and mingle with golfers throughout the day, often forging connections that become mentoring relationships. It’s this opportunity for donors to see their “philanthropy in action,” Prosak says, that’s kept the Malone Classic going strong.

“Many of the golfers know the students, and you put on your mom or dad hat and just naturally ask the kids how it’s going,” Prosak says. “It becomes like a family.”

Corporation Leadership Award

Dworken & Bernstein

Attorney Patrick Perotti of Dworken & Bernstein has taken an old-school approach to helping raise money for charities and nonprofits — an 1,800-year-old approach to be more precise.

In the 1980s, Perotti discovered a little-known legal doctrine from the third century called cy pres, from the French term “cy pres comme possible,” which translates to “as near as possible.”

Today, one way to use cy pres is in class action lawsuits. In large class actions, it is almost always the case that some class members can’t be found or ignore class action documents in the mail. Cy pres allows the money from the lawsuit that wasn’t paid out to the absent class members to be donated to charities.

“If we give to 15 to 20 different charities, then at the end of the day, it’s highly likely that every single one of those class members that we didn’t find or their families or their friends are going to benefit from that money, therefore ‘as nearly as possible,’ ” Perotti says. “We are using those funds to somehow give a benefit to those people. We couldn’t give it right to them; we’re going give it to them
indirectly.”

Using cy pres, Dworken & Bernstein has helped to direct more than $20 million dollars in unclaimed money to charities. Its Ohio Lawyers Give Back initiative helps educate and encourage other lawyers and judges to use cy pres provisions. Perotti hopes that other firms will consider the provision and help give money to those who need it the most.

“Lawyers are often criticized, and people say ‘Oh, you’re a lawyer,’ and they don’t respect the profession. But if lawyers do their job the right way, then what we’re in the business for is not to win cases — we’re in the business to accomplish justice,” Perotti says. “And this is the best way I have ever seen in my entire 25-year career, to accomplish justice.”

Foundation Leadership Award

David & Inez Myers Foundation

The David and Inez Myers Foundation isn’t just about charity work. They make investments, and these positive changes that result from their efforts can be seen both locally and internationally.

Interested in the concerns of the Jewish people, health and science research, and the social fabric of Greater Cleveland, the Myers Foundation makes annual grants of $7 million toward those three areas.

“We continue to fund and make new grants to universities, schools of medicine and to basic research in the health sciences,” says president S. Lee Kohrman. “We have multiyear grants to universities throughout the world that are doing special work in basic cancer research, neurological studies and various things having to do with cell research.”

The foundation also helped fund the local arts, including the Musical Arts Association, the Cleveland Art Museum, Great Lakes Theater Festival and the Cleveland Play House.

In the Jewish community, the Myers Foundation has also helped with the development of Menorah Park Center for the Aging in Beachwood and helped establish a wellness center at the Jewish Community Center of Cleveland. They have also made grants for health science research in almost all major universities in Israel.

“Mr. Myers and Mrs. Myers were always interested in Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, and we continued their beliefs,” Kohrman says. “One of the strengths of Israel is the totality of its academic institutions. Israel is a country with no natural resources; its only natural resource is its people, so we wanted to encourage creative activity in Israel. There are some extraordinary institutions in Israel, so it coincided with our interest of supporting world-class scientists in that area.”

Whether it’s down the street or on the other side of the globe, the Myers Foundation is realizing the dreams of David and Inez and is humbled to be recognized for their efforts.

“We try to do interesting, creative grant-making,” Kohrman says. “And to have our work recognized by fundraisers is very complimentary to us.”

Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer

Umberto Fedeli

Never far from Umberto Fedeli’s mind is this bit of wisdom shared with him by a friend: “In life, the secret of happiness is to love, and the essence of love is to serve.”

That statement, written in a letter to Fedeli by the late Monsignor John Carroll-Abbing, forms the core of a personal philosophy that’s driven Fedeli’s lifetime of civic involvement.

“As business people, we all have to figure out how to go from success to significance,” says Fedeli, who serves as president and CEO of the insurance brokerage firm The Fedeli Group. “How can we make a difference in someone else’s life?”

Although Fedeli’s philanthropy has benefited organizations ranging from The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Foundation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, it’s his extensive service to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation that’s earned him the 2009 Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer Award.

“The Cleveland Clinic makes so much positive impact in terms of saving lives, conducting research and being an economic engine for Northeast Ohio,” says Fedeli, who sits on its board of directors and serves as its chairman of government relations and on its executive committee.

But it’s Fedeli’s heart for children — another commonality with his friend Monsignor Carroll-Abbey — that’s led him to champion CCF’s pediatric programs. As chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital Annual HeartThrob Ball the past two years, Fedeli raised twice as much money as previous years and drew more participants than ever before. A father of five himself, Fedeli and his wife, Maryellen, have also hosted events in their home to raise money for the Clinic’s Children’s Hospital and Marymount Hospital.

“We help people see the good work the hospital is doing,” Fedeli says. “We strive to be a catalyst, to help other people be exposed to good causes.”

Char & Chuck Fowler

“Do good, do well” is the motto that guides the employees of Chardon-based Fairmount Minerals, but it’s more than just a slogan for Fairmount’s president and CEO Chuck Fowler and his wife, Char, the recipients of the 2009 Outstanding Philanthropist Award.

“Often people give money to causes after they’ve died,” Fowler says. “But you can’t wait to do good. You have to do it every day, as much as you can.”

Sustainability and children’s health are among the causes closest to the Fowlers’ hearts, and it’s their long-standing support of Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals that has earned them this award.

In February, the couple gifted $7.5 million to establish the Char and Chuck Fowler Fund at Case’s Weatherhead School of Management, which supports a chaired Professorship in Sustainable Enterprise and The Fowler Center for Sustainable Value.

“We expect to see the center become a repository for sustainability case studies and classroom materials that can be used around the world,” says Fowler. “To get Weatherhead to be a leading participant [in sustainability] is vital, and a real opportunity for Case to make its mark in higher education.”

Prompting their support of University Hospital’s Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital is the Fowlers’ own experience of losing their 14-year-old daughter Angie to melanoma in 1983. Their gifts to UH have made possible new research into adolescent and young adult cancers and created the Angie Fowler Adolescent and Young Adult Treatment Suite.

“The treatment centers we participated in [with Angie] were either bent toward very young pediatric patients or adults,” remembers Fowler. “We’re supporting a treatment center that surrounds adolescents and young adults with an atmosphere more pleasant for them.”

Fowler hopes events such as National Philanthropy Day® will encourage others.

“If this influences others to step up to the plate,” Fowler says, “then that’s a good thing.”

The Greater Cleveland Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals is dedicated to elevating the fundraising profession, providing valuable educational programming to our members, and serving the community by promoting ethical and professional practices in philanthropy.