Tiffany Finds Ball Is a Jewel for Good Cause
You’re new in town, you need a date, but not just anyone will do--it has to be someone who can make introductions to the right circles.
So you dial the local matchmaker?
Perhaps--but if your name is Tiffany you may find it more useful to consult a public relations firm.
Tiffany & Co., the legendary New York jeweler that opened a posh shop in downtown’s new Paladion last February, started a search several months earlier for a high-visibility, high-prestige social event to which it could contribute considerable financial support. The payoff for the store would be what might be called “gilt by association,” highly desirable for any jeweler and particularly for one that caters almost exclusively to a well-heeled clientele. And there is nothing unusual in this--businesses that service the carriage trade frequently swing open their doors with a charity benefit. The Paladion, for example, gave itself an extravagant, heavily attended grand opening in the form of a fund-raiser for the Costume Council of the San Diego Historical Society.
But Tiffany took a decidedly unusual tack by seeking association with an established event, rather than simply opening the store with a benefit for a fashionable charity. Working from a list of top annual balls prepared by the public relations branch of the Phillips-Ramsey advertising firm, Tiffany eventually selected an event that boasts not only a reputation as one of the most lavish on the city’s annual social calendar, but, from a jeweler’s point of view, a gem of a name: The Jewel Ball.
Given annually in early August by Las Patronas, a La Jolla philanthropic group whose 50 members sign on for seven-year stints, the Jewel Ball has two unique attributes. Founded in 1947 and recognized as one of the Top 10 earners in the United States, the Jewel Ball always is presented in an open-air ballroom, constructed on the tennis courts of La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club with fantasy-sets with a theme built by the Las Patronas membership.
Even more distinctive, perhaps, is the group’s role as a free-lance philanthropist that annually writes a new list of beneficiaries among whom to divide ball proceeds, which in some years have exceeded $400,000. This approach to charity differs markedly from the vast majority of annual events, which generally give exclusive support to a single organization; for example, the grande dame of San Diego galas, the Charity Ball, always benefits Children’s Hospital and Health Center.
Las Patronas has distributed more than $4.5 million since the 1947 Jewel Ball, which raised $1,357 for United Relief of China. Given the current economic climate, which has diminished the profits of many annual fund-raisers, 1992 ball chairman Tricia Kellogg said she expects her games-themed “It’s Your Move,” to be given Aug. 8, to net more than $300,000.
Local Tiffany manager Mary Swanby, who made the decision to become principal underwriter of the 1992 Jewel Ball in conjunction with the jeweler’s own public relations department in New York, said that Las Patronas’ unique approach to the distribution of proceeds was the factor that moved the ball to the top of Tiffany’s list. The fact that a number of the expected 850 guests can be expected to become Tiffany clients also played a major role.
“We discussed who Tiffany’s audience in San Diego is, and who would benefit from the fund-raiser,” said Swanby. “Our view is that this will be Tiffany’s grand opening in San Diego, and we decided that the Jewel Ball benefits the greatest number of people. That the Jewel Ball is named the Jewel Ball was part of the decision, because it was appropriate for a jeweler newly arrived in town, but this was not the major consideration.”
A mid-November telephone call to Kellogg set the stage for the unusual alliance between jeweler and beneficiary. “We told Las Patronas that we had a significant amount in mind, and they were pretty thrilled,” said Swanby.
Swanby declined to disclose that amount, although $50,000 is the figure unofficially released after the announcement of Tiffany’s involvement. The donation does not include cash, but is instead an “in-kind” contribution of the sort of merchandise required for the staging of a lavish gala, including invitations, menus and escort cards designed and engraved by Tiffany; centerpieces created by the jeweler’s design chief, John Loring; custom tablecloths and table favors.
“We produce so much in-house that we can supply a lot of what is necessary for an event like ‘It’s Your Move,”’ said Swanby. “There are a lot of subtleties in the way we do things. The wrapped presents on the tables will make for a very strong Tiffany presence, but in a subtle way.” She added that the store cooperated with the ball’s theme rather than trying to introduce a theme of its own, but did insist strongly that one rule that applies to all Tiffany-supported events be observed: There will be no Table 13.
Although Tiffany may have gone for the gold by seeking participation in the Jewel Ball, Kellogg said that the move left the Las Patronas membership singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”
“They’ve given the ball the Tiffany’s touch, and it will be a first-cabin affair,” she said. “When they made the offer to underwrite ‘It’s Your Move,’ I thought we were incredibly lucky in this hard-time year. While I originally had to budget for invitations, centerpieces and so forth, Tiffany freed up those funds, which enables Las Patronas to better fulfill our role as an umbrella for so many San Diego charities.
“I’d say that this underwriting will increase our net proceeds by 10%,” Kellogg added. “We raise the money to turn over to groups that need it, and we try to raise as much as possible. The Jewel Ball is the product we sell in order to earn that money.”
That money--the distillation of 15 months of planning and seven hours of dancing under the stars--is distributed in compliance with unusually tight guidelines. Each year, Las Patronas selects five or six major beneficiaries (defined as recipients of at least $10,000 each, although the figure typically is a multiple of that amount) and about 50 minor beneficiaries, which will share in the remaining half or so of the ball’s proceeds.
Most grant requests must be received by Oct. 1 of the year preceding the ball from which the money will be disbursed. Beneficiaries may not apply in consecutive years and, according to Las Patronas president Melesse Traylor, are discouraged from applying “too often.” “There’s so much need these days, and so many good causes come our way,” she said.
The group primarily funds capital items, such as the purchase of a shuttle bus for Senior Community Centers of San Diego that will be paid for by “It’s Your Move” proceeds, and prefers to contribute the entire amount required to buy such items. Among other major 1992 gifts will be eight intensive-care beds for the UC San Diego Regional Burn Center and furnishings for the nursery room at the Scripps Clinic day-care center. Requests to fund salaries, operating expenses, endowment funds and individuals generally are denied.
“Our focus always is on the current and pressing needs of the beneficiary, and of the impact their project will have on the community,” said Sukey Beasley, the La Patrona in charge of the teams that make on-site evaluations of each grant-requesting organization. But, she added, while some of everything that glitters at the Tiffany-sponsored ball will, in fact, turn to gold, the proceeds will not begin to match requests. “Every prospective beneficiary is very worthy, and it’s hard turning some down. But especially this year, we just don’t have the money.”
