volunteerism

Make No Mistake: Philanthropy Is About More Than Money

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By Lauren Kotkin, Exponent Philanthropy

What is the definition of “giving?” Has the term become synonymous with nothing but money – rather than the giving of an individual’s time, talents and skills? And what about the word “philanthropy?” Has it, too, become indistinguishable from the giving of only money? Are philanthropy and giving just about money?

—e-Volunteerism, Volume XIII, Issue 2, January 2013

Today’s philanthropy is not just about giving money conclude authors Susan Ellis and Rob Jackson after tracing philanthropy’s history and evolution: “Our goal should be to encourage the widest possible spectrum of giving and philanthropy, getting people to participate as they can, when they can, while helping our organizations to see any form of gift as support worthy of appreciation and cultivation.”

For example, according to the Corporation for National & Community Service, one in four Americans volunteered in 2012, accumulating 7.9 billion hours of service worth $175 billion. See a state-by-state comparison of the value of volunteer time or search by volunteer job.

At Exponent Philanthropy, we too believe that philanthropy comes in non-dollar form. Its why we’re excited to incorporate service as part of each National Conference.

This fall’s 2014 National Conference will include two opportunities to give back:

Service Project With City Year DC

On Saturday morning, November 1, from 8:30-11:30 a.m., City Year DC invites conference participants to join its staff and corps members for hands-on activities in one of City Year’s partner schools. Participants will work in small groups on projects to benefit the school and its students. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear stories and ask questions about City Year’s impact and the students it serves.

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How Employees Strengthened a Corporate Foundation’s Grantmaking

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By Juanita Garcia, GenCorp Foundation

I don’t know about you, but I find my company’s employees are my best ambassadors. Employees at Aerojet are proud of the work they do – developing propulsion systems that power our nation’s exploration of space and help keep our military men and women safe in defense of our country.

As director of the company’s corporate foundation, employees often introduce me to nonprofit groups and projects that could benefit from GenCorp Foundation grants. Our foundation’s primary giving focus is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Education to ensure our nation’s future workforce is equipped to perform in the 21st century’s technology marketplace.

The foundation funds in 12 diverse communities across the United States – and each of our Aerojet sites has a distinct corporate culture. Yet common at each site, I find our employees are a generous group – giving of their time and talent in a variety of ways through volunteering in their communities and opening their wallets for our annual workplace giving campaign.

Because the GenCorp Foundation mission is focused on education, foundation funding does not often support organizations and causes in which our employees are personally interested. So in 2010, the GenCorp Foundation board approved allocating funding for each Aerojet site to use in conjunction with employee volunteer efforts. Dubbed Aerojet in Action, local volunteer committees organize team volunteer activities and are empowered to give a grant to support the school or nonprofit where Aerojet employees provided much-needed volunteer power.

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Empty Building + Creativity: Transforming Neighborhoods through Arts

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By Lauren Kotkin, ASF

To some, they are sweet, gooey marshmallows. To others, they are cause for artistic inspiration. No matter how you slice it, Peeps candies are the featured subjects of the hugely popular annual diorama contest held by The Washington Post, as evidenced by the hundreds of entries each year and thousands of fans across the country.

A few years ago, I served as the Peeps Curator—or Peeps Wrangler, as others like to jest. That is, I contacted the forty-odd contest semi-finalists and finalists and invited them to display their clever, sticky creations at Artomatic, a five-week arts event in the DC-metro area.

Artomatic is the Wild West of arts events. If you can imagine—and organize—it, it can happen at Artomatic. The recipe is simple: take 1,000 visual artists and give them each a 10’ foot space to hang their artwork in an empty office building. Add performers in the evenings, workshops for kids and adults on weekends, invite the public and poof! You’ve got an arts happening. This year, Artomatic is expecting more than 75,000 people to stream in from across the region to take in a diversity of artwork, music, dance, fashion, poetry, and, of course, the Peeps dioramas.

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