When Sweet Charity Goes Sour
We will all have to give a little more, share a little more because charity and nonprofit organizations in the Los Angeles area are having to work harder and longer to raise donations as the local philanthropic scene changes.
The Arco Foundation, a well-known funder of local charities and a nationally respected pacesetter in corporate philanthropy, is having to eliminate its entire staff as part of its parent firm’s reorganization. The foundation will continue to fund projects, although the level of giving is likely to drop off from the current $13 million a year.
The cutback leaves a void in the Los Angeles community and sends a chilling message to charity circles nationwide, where the Arco Foundation earned well-deserved kudos for its philanthropic initiatives. Those activities ranged from community groups like the PUENTE Learning Center in Boyle Heights to LEARN, the Los Angeles education-reform initiative. Notably, Arco also ranked first among U.S. corporations in its giving to minority populations.
While corporate foundations will continue to have a role as social catalysts, individual citizens will need to do more giving. Los Angeles ranks an embarrassing 48th among 50 areas ranked in order of per capita charitable giving, according to a recent survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Los Angeles has more wealthy people than any region except New York, but people on average gave $7 each to United Way in 1992, compared with $32 in Columbus. The survey did not include donations to small specialized organizations or contributions to churches and the needy, which are increasingly attracting support in a diverse Los Angeles.
Individuals and corporations provide vital funding to address community needs, especially in current times when the state, counties and cities are having to slash services because of budget problems. Some say there is no bottom-line advantage to charitable giving. We think they are wrong. Helping others become educated, helping kids stay out trouble, helping people get along makes for a better community in which to live and to do business. And that’s a terribly important bottom line indeed.
