San Diego Women’s Foundation
The Power of Pooled Philanthropy
“Many hands make light work.”
Carol Chang, President
SDWF
The “light work” of this old English proverb is an understatement of the work being done at the San Diego Women’s Foundation (SDWF) as they enter their ninth year of grantmaking. The image of the hands, however, is absolutely correct. Collaboration, both financial and intellectual, is key.
Pooled philanthropy is not a new concept. San Diego has many outstanding groups that have discovered the power of pooling their resources, many with added components of shared time and intelligence. For ten years now, SDWF has studied strong giving circles, borrowed the best ideas and fine-tuned them to become their own. Today, SDWF is honored to be the organization that others often turn to for advice and direction.
“Our members are amazing in their desire to understand their community and make informed and meaningful decisions,” says Tracy Johnson, Executive Director. “I think we all realize what a huge difference pooled dollars can make and we want to make sure their impact is maximized.”
Group of Members, Annual Meeting 2008The most recent economic challenges and our inability to predict what may happen next have brought one thing into sharp focus: pooling our philanthropic resources is critical. According to Nancy Jamison, Executive Director of San Diego Grantmakers, research shows that over 80% of giving is from individuals, not corporations, and the trend within that 80% is toward shared giving. Groups like SDWF become a critical player as the needs in the community grow and the resources shrink.
“Giving needs to be leveraged, effective, strategic and smarter to make the most of limited resources,” says Jamison. “That’s true for business and for philanthropy. Today’s economy strengthens that case and makes it more important than ever.”
This year the economy is front and center, with SDWF’s grant focus of Economic and Employment Development and a specific emphasis on programs that move lower paid, lower skilled workers into higher paid, higher skilled jobs. This emphasis is based on recent writings about the ‘hourglass economy’, or the nationwide shrinking of the middle class, and the findings that 22% of families in San Diego have incomes too low to cover the cost of their basic needs.
The urgency created by these figures reinforces our need to join forces, team up, and share the wealth. Most of us learned at an early age that pooling our resources has some real advantages. Whether it is a potluck dinner or a shower gift, the team approach offers a greater yield. It also offers some immeasurable fringe benefits, like greater understanding of the issues and friendship with those who share the task.
In fact, with collaboration, many hands can accomplish great things and heavy lifting becomes light work.
