Posted on: Thursday, March 28, 2002

Generosity surpasses expectations

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

The people who ask other people for money, such as Judy Dawson, wondered in the days after Sept. 11 whether their organizations would be overlooked by donors who were focused instead on the newly unemployed and homeless.

"We were really worried," Dawson said of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. "Are people going to give to the Red Cross or give to the museum? I think the answer is that they gave to both. People weren't making choices."

Six months after the terrorist attacks that sent the economy into a trough, there are still strong signals of hope for philanthropy in Hawai'i.

Some of Hawai'i's largest companies have increased their donations. Foundations continue to finance millions of dollars worth of projects. And it appears that individuals are giving the same, if not more, after Sept. 11.

The tight fund-raising climate also has forced the people who solicit donations to make better, more focused pitches for money.

"I wouldn't say it's good times yet, but it's not the financial disaster across the board that we were afraid of," said David Earles, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Aloha Chapter. "There's a sense that the money's there and all we have to do is ask for it."

Nobody has a complete view of the donations picture in Hawai'i — either the total amount given each year or how much comes from individuals, foundations or businesses. So it's difficult to quantify how donations may have changed since the terrorist attacks triggered massive layoffs and cuts in Hawai'i.

But professional fund-raisers say that while donations overall may be remaining relatively stable, it's clear that many tourist-oriented businesses that suffered the most after Sept. 11 have reduced or eliminated donations, just as many of the estimated 5,000 to 6,000 nonprofit organizations in Hawai'i are overwhelmed with demands for service.

"Based on our inexact science of talking to a lot of people, we think that individuals have continued to be as generous as they ever were. Foundations after Sept. 11 have really renewed a strong commitment to maintain their grant making," said Kelvin Taketa, president and chief executive of the Hawai'i Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that gives $12 million a year. "But it's clear that business giving has declined because of the pressures of the economy."

DFS Pacific is one of those that has cut back. In the good times of the 1980s, DFS Pacific once handed out hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. But with sales down 35 percent to 45 percent after the Sept. 11, the company decided to shut down its donation program as the retailer cut the equivalent of 300 full-time jobs.

"It was a terribly difficult decision for a company that has been such an important part of the fabric of community giving," said Sharon Weiner, DFS group vice president. "It's been awful for me to have to say no to so many good causes. But it's hard to give money away when you're not making money."

Still, Dawson and others have still been able to raise money.

In 1998 the academy set a $20 million fund-raising goal. By Sept. 11, the academy had secured $23 million in pledges and eventually raised its goal to $30 million. It has since received another $3 million in pledges.

"We were sort of expecting the worst and were surprised by the generosity that resulted," Dawson said. "The people who do have money are still making gifts. They may be choosing their recipients more carefully. They may not be giving to as wide and diverse a number of charities. But people do have funds and they're giving."

By the end of last year, the academy also had added 25 new donors to its Society of Academy Fellows who each give $1,250.

"I don't want to make it sound rosy, because we're all still working very, very hard," Dawson said.

Easter Seals Hawai'i officials prepared for a drop in donations right after Sept. 11 and tried to figure out how to cut $50,000 to $75,000 in operating expenses.

They renegotiated Easter Seals' janitorial contract. A staff member offered to landscape the grounds with a relative, at a cheaper rate. John Howell, Easter Seals Hawai'i's president and chief executive, canceled a newsletter, saving nearly $8,000.

The cuts ended up saving Easter Seals a total of $52,000.

But the donations keep coming. A $500,000 campaign to renovate a nearby park to help children and adults is just $100,000 short.

"It's very competitive," Howell said. "But if you can paint a vision that's crystal clear and give people the confidence that you can carry it out, the money's there."

About 200 to 500 donation requests arrive at the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation each year and lately they've been pitched better.

"I don't think we're getting any more or less proposals," said Kate Braden, vice president, treasurer and executive director of the foundation. "We're probably getting more appropriate proposals."

In October, the foundation didn't even bother waiting for requests. It gave out five checks for $50,000 each to social service organizations that didn't even ask for money. At the end of last year, the foundation added three more unsolicited grants of $37,000 each to help families and to pay for rents.

"It's really a lot of fun to say, 'I have a check for you. Would you like to come and get it?'" Braden said.

It's that kind of attitude that Walter Dods, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of First Hawaiian Bank, believes is important for Hawai'i businesses.

First Hawaiian became the first corporation to give $1 million to the Aloha United Way campaign. The First Hawaiian Foundation last year also handed out $2 million in grants.

The increase in donations is necessary, Dods said, because so many organizations need help.

"We're giving at an all-time high," Dods said. "Because I'm born and raised here, I feel that when a community needs help, you step up."

Officials with the Alexander & Baldwin Foundation also increased their charitable budget — by another $500,000.

The increase is aimed specifically at helping to ease the hardship from the economic slide that followed Sept. 11, said Meredith Ching, vice president of government and community relations and chairwoman of the foundation's Hawai'i committee.

The $1.9 million goes into a special fund for charity that the foundation has named "Manawale'a."

It means "a generous heart to give freely and willingly."