Dear Philanthropy Delaware members and friends,
I am sadly writing to let you know that I am resigning from my position as the President and CEO at Philanthropy Delaware. As we have traversed through COVID-19, it became very apparent to me that I need to place myself geographically near my family. I was offered an opportunity that would allow me to be close to my children and grandchildren, where I feel I need to be at this point in my life. I will be taking the position as President and CEO of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Foundation in Harrisburg, PA. My last day at Philanthropy Delaware will be July 24, 2020.
Leading Philanthropy Delaware has been a wonderful experience that I will never forget. I am proud of the work that the organization has accomplished in the last three and a half years. From the rebranding of Delaware Grantmakers Association to Philanthropy Delaware, to increased membership, the organization has advanced philanthropy in Delaware. Through enlightening and instructive programming, thought leadership, resources for our Members, forging alliances with local and state government leadership, providing grant-matching assistance to local organizations, and collective investment of our members, the culmination of work has led to more effective, efficient, and impactful philanthropy in Delaware.
In response to COVID-19, Philanthropy Delaware worked with DCF, DANA, and UWDE to create the COVID-19 Strategic Response Initiative for Delaware. As part of it, I served as the Director of the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, which has awarded $2.8 million to 128 Delaware nonprofits to date. The work will continue through the new grant programs of the Community Needs and Vision Grant Programs to continue to meet the emerging and evolving need from the pandemic. Truly, we are stronger together.
I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for the outstanding support of this community and our members. As of right now, there will be no other organizational changes as far as in-office staff (other than my replacement) or the board. I am confident the board will be able to find an excellent replacement as President and CEO. So, you can rest assured that you will continue to have the same level of service you’ve come to expect from Philanthropy Delaware including our new 10-year strategic plan that focuses on impact and equity in new and exciting ways.
But more importantly, I cannot thank you all enough for the friendships gained, all that I have learned, and all the opportunities you have generously bestowed upon me over the past few years. I would like to thank each of you for every experience shared and the good times we had together. I would like all of you to know that working alongside you was very rewarding and I really appreciate all the help you have extended to me through my time here. It makes me wish that I had the chance to work with you more. Words are not enough to express my gratitude, but I hope that one day our paths can cross again in future.
I wish everyone the best success. Thank you very much for your kindness and support over the years.
Yours sincerely,
Cynthia Pritchard, President and CEO.
What happens when 100 people donate $100 you raise $10,000, that is the benefit of working together as a community. The is the power of everyone investing in the what matters to them at the level they can afford. We all can do something.
The Do More 24 DE Campaign a partnership with United Way of Delaware and Spur Impact will take place on March 5 & 6, 2020. It is a great way to give back to those organizations that you are supportive of. It also provides you with the opportunity to challenge your friends, family, and peers to do something.
Delaware has had a very generous corporate and foundation culture with there percentages doubling the national average. One the other side, Delaware ranks 48th in individually giving per capita. Let's change that!
Do more 24 is a fun and easy way for the entire Delaware Community to impact philanthropy and be inspired to donate to local nonprofits.
Do your part to do more in 24 hours of March 5th and 6th. We have 13 days before Do More 24 DE launches. What can you do?
1. Make sure your favorite nonprofit is registered at https://www.domore24delaware.org
2. Mark you calendar to make your donation March 5 & 6
3. Invite 24 friends to Do More 24 DE to do 1 & 2
4. Get your employer to match your and your co-workers gifts-double up for all.
5. Use your social media to challenge your "contacts" to #DoMore24DE, #DoMore24Delaware,
We must work together to Do More 24 DE for Delaware nonprofits to make this year the best year ever. We also need to move Delaware out to the bottom 10th of individual giving to the top 10th.. 2020 is the year to make this happen. It only takes 100 people to donate $100 to have a $10,000 impact on an organization. Do more 24 DE.
Cynthia Pritchard, President and CEO Philanthropy Delaware
As the end of the year approaches and we gather with family and friends what are the conversations? Many reflect on the year that has passed and others lay out their plans for the new year. A new decade is about to begin and it is a great time to consider what you will do. I personally like numbers and have put great thought about what are the 20 things I can do in 2020. So I challenge each of you on the cusp of a numeric opportunity, to engage in conversation that inspires your family and friends this holiday. I have always had a charity mindset, but I know I could be a better philanthropist and will put myself to the test. It is more about a plan.
As defined: Charity is an empathetic response to an immediate crisis or need. Philanthropy is long-term and a more strategic kind of giving. Another way to say it is: There is charity, which is good, and then there is problem-solving charity, which is called philanthropy
So in 2020..my first challenge for you is to move from Charity to Philanthropy with your Time, Talent, and Treasure for the greater good.
I have attached a great article from the Delaware Business Times on end of the year and beyond that was presented in partnership with Stu Comstock-Gay from the Delaware Community Foundation.
I wish all of you a great holiday season and see you in 2020, once again I charge you to find 20 new to support your community.
Cynthia Pritchard, President and CEO-Philanthropy Delaware
132213230368024532_DBT1224_Digital 29.pdf
On November 12, 2019, I had the pleasure of facilitating a panel for National Philanthropy Day on the Delaware Funding Pie. Delaware Pie.pdf
The panel delved into all the various funding sources that are available to nonprofits in the state of Delaware and the current trends and issues around those funding sources.
The panel included Philanthropy Delaware members: Amy Walls, Principal, Community Affairs at Discover bank, There DuPont, President of the Longwood Foundation, and Stu Comstock Gay, President and CEO of the Delaware Community Foundation.
The areas discussed were: Corporate Funding, which I will address is this blog; Community Reinvestment Act Investments; Donor Advised Funds, Endowments, Foundation Funding and Individual Donors.
Delaware is unique in that its Foundation and Corporate giving are both double the national average with individual donors 18% lower than the national average.
Delaware nonprofits have been fortunate to be the beneficiaries of significant corporate dollars over the years. We hope for that to continue, but that will be dependent on if the work and data supports the investment trends of the corporate sector.
Corporate funding continues to go through various iterations as organizations determine what is the best methodology for them to do their philanthropy. One change we're seeing across multiple organizations is that of generalized philanthropy moving into much more strategic corporate social responsibility noting that “social” responsibility being the key component of this. There is a mindset that when corporations support the key causes in strategic ways—when they get the right place and the right investment—they create momentum for critical change.
There is a trend for corporate funding giving to less organizations and aligning with a handful of organizations and putting much larger gifts to projects issues and partners. Another thing to be aware of is the trend for companies to align their philanthropic giving to the return on investment within their organizations. Focused efforts drive all-around impact. Evolving away from general philanthropy toward causes that are more tightly aligned with their corporate DNA and other company initiatives. This reflects a desire to be strategically consistent and to concentrate giving that produces the most impact.
We also see a change to a philanthropic mindset with corporate culture. Companies are also moving their corporate social responsibility out of their External Communications department into Human Resource departments, Sustainability departments and even in separate departments altogether in order to align more with the company. Moving from part of to culture of methodology.
At the presentation, I gave examples of companies that have made shifts in the last several years. Here I will not name the companies, but the drivers for the change.
1. Employee Preference: One company changed their focus after surveying the employees and employee engagement efforts to determine that the employees felt they were not investing where they should. The company made a complete shift in their philanthropic grantmaking.
2. Ethical Business Practices: One company realized that product they received directly from the supplier versus a third party vendor that was acquired via a workforce system of unreasonable wages and substandard conditions. Their philanthropy became a time, talent, and treasure investment into helping design the infrastructure for best labor practices for the complete supply chain.
3. Employee Acquisition and Economic Mobility: One company chose to invest in the training and development of their employee pool through workforce development programs in the community targeting those that previously may have had limited income potential. Providing them with training and good paying jobs.
All of these examples that remind us that philanthropic investments can benefit the donor is ways that is not always measured by tax incentives, but the desire to improve the bottom line, employee satisfaction, communities in which companies reside and to have the workforce for the future.
Cynthia Pritchard, President and CEO Philanthropy Delaware.
On November 6, 2019, the Delaware Community Foundation (Philanthropy Delaware member) hosted Deb and James Fallows, authors of Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America as their Annual keynote presentation.
As Deb and James Fallows shared their insights of their journey, they have listed eight major things that they have learned. Their perspective allows us to sit and reflect of how Delaware communities have faced challenges and succeeded the commitment to thrive. Here are my thoughts on the eight.
1. The importance of public-private partnerships. Public-private partnerships have existed for a very long time in large scale infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, parks and more. Why should we not replicate that in changing systems that affect our most vulnerable? It makes sense when these partnerships work well when private sector technology and innovation combined with public sector incentives to complete work.
2. Community foundations and Libraries are first order of importance. Foundations that are homegrown in the community have been doing "place based" grantmaking long before it was a "thing" and continue to do so. In their backyards. My grandmother was a librarian, I grew up in a library..literally. I went there everyday after school in elementary school. It was the hub of the community, it was a place you felt welcome(unless you were noisy..the Sssshhhh days. Now they are the place where information is flowing, education is happening, children are blossoming, and so much more.
3. Opportunity and economic development plans need to be racially fair and inclusive. It is time to act with the same intentionality to do the fair and inclusive plan that was given to the unfair and exclusive plan of the past. The time is "now" to stop talking and start acting in a way that reverses the past and elevates the future.
4. Community colleges and career tech and high schools have revolutionary potential. YES. Every twelve to eighteen months, computers double their capabilities, and so do the information technologies that use them. If the average car had advanced as quickly as the computer over the last 35 years, cars would get 3,666,652 miles per gallon and cost less than $5,000 today. We need to prepare children for the next technology and find ways to empower the next generation to create the technology after that.
5. How research universities and 4-year universities have to be key players in community and not socially disconnected. Anchor institutions are vital assets to their neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions. Time is changing and academia has to keep up and invest outside their doors. There is an opportunity to move beyond observation and to connect with the communities they aim to understand. It also requires long term engagement because systems change takes years much longer than a semester, article or a degree.
6. Creating new models for local journalism. This is exciting. This week I participated in the Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation Reinventing Delaware event and this was an "idea" from more than one person at my table. We need to know what good is happening in our community. We need to be more connected with each other. We need to change the narrative. Several innovators in Delaware are poised and ready to take this on.
7. Importance for cities of deliberately attracting new citizens. I think the cities in Delaware are trying to accomplish this. They are working through organizations like Wilmington Alliance, Delaware Prosperity Partnership, Dover Downtown Partnership, and more to encourage moving to Delaware to live, work and play. Campaigns like "Its Time" and "Wilm Love" is a place to start.
8. The importance of sharing playbook. Sharing your best work with your neighbor is the beginning of moving communities where "they" want to be. Transparency and honesty are crucial, just like in a relationship between two people it is the same with two organizations or communities. Nonprofits need to see that value it together for all is much better than separate for none.
We thank Deb and James Fallows for sharing their time, talents, and insights with the first state.
Cynthia Pritchard, President and CEO
Outcomes.. outcomes..outcomes; the results that the funding community expects and the goal nonprofits are trying to achieve. At least that is what we keep hearing. Outcomes easily translated is results, that is all anyone is really asking for. If you invest we want to "make a profit", that profit is not in dollars, but in safer neighborhoods, healthy children, graduation rates, increased incomes, and so much more. If we make a profit (as stated above) than impact has been achieved.
I think the harder part is where are we now, where do we want to be, how do we measure that, and what metrics are the best. I think this is what keeps us in meeting after meeting after meeting. I believe the consensus is actually the hardest part, getting everyone to see the "pie in the sky" and how we work together to achieve that. I ponder this daily and do not have the magic answer, but what I do know is "data matters". It is the starting and ending point for this process of measuring the "Social Good Profit".
How does an organization like Philanthropy Delaware, help the community make a "Social Good Profit"? We provide our members the latest trends, data, research and conversation. We engage the community and the work being done to understand the landscape. We monitor national best practices to see what information would enhance the work in Delaware.
That being said making a "Social Good Profit" is hard work. It requires trust, cooperation, transparency, humility and of course objective data. Most of all it requires the will of all to invest time, talent and treasure to agree we all have a part in making the world around us better for all.
Why Census 2020 Matters for all-Volume 1
Did you know that the U.S. Constitution requires an accurate count every 10 years of the population? But why? There are a multitude of reasons, but let me tell you about a few.
These are some basic facts, but beyond that it is your civic duty, just like obeying the laws, paying taxes, and jury duty. As said by Benjamin Franklin in 1789 “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”.. I would add to that an accurate accounting of not just the U.S. population, but the world population.
Wilmington, Del – Dorsey Vernita was recently named the new chairwoman of the Philanthropy Delaware’s executive board for 2019-2020. Vernita, a Senior Vice President, Director of Community Strategy at WSFS Bank, assumed her role on January 1, 2019.
As Senior Vice President, Vernita handles Corporate Philanthropy for WSFS Bank to include their Community Strategy initiatives and bank's volunteer initiatives through Team WSFS. In addition, she serves as Secretary of the WSFS Foundation Board. Vernita is deeply committed to the community and currently actively volunteers in a leadership role with many Delaware organizations. Vernita is deeply committed to the community and currently serves on the boards of Downtown Vision, is the Immediate Past President of Girls Inc. of Delaware, currently serving on the SSB Annual Luncheon committee, Henrietta Johnson Medical Center Advisory Council, Fresh Start Scholarship Advisory Council, Fund For Women member, MLK Voices 4 Youth Committee, ABA Teach Children to Save Committee & It’s Time- Wilmington Business Engagement Council. Vernita has been married to Eric L. Dorsey Sr. for 38 years and has two children Eric II and LaVante’ Dorsey, in addition to 8 grandchildren.
As the first female board chair, Vernita will oversee a group of 9 other board members. She is supported on the Executive Board by Board Secretary Matt Stehl (Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware) and Board Treasurer Regina Kerr Alonzo (Borgenicht Foundation).
Philanthropy Delaware’s Board of Directors include: Chris Crothers, Jessie Ball duPont Fund; Ashley Cook, Wells Fargo; Chris Grundner, Welfare Foundation; Sharon Struthers, Struthers Family; Michelle Taylor, United Way of Delaware; Amy Walls, Discover Bank; and Jenn Walters-Michalec, Capital One.
Corporate Philanthropy Reimagined
Check out social media and you will see companies doing good work, but do you know what the company does? Go to company websites and you will see a Corporate Social Responsibility or Community Relations page that highlight their philanthropic partnerships. They will talk about employee engagement and who they invest in; that is great for the nonprofit sector. They will talk about their outputs in volunteer hours and material aid to the charity of choice, this is great but is it enough?
What if they aligned their giving practices with their business goals? What is corporate volunteering became more than talking points, t-shirts and time off? What if their investment improved their bottom line? What if their engagement helped change corporate culture? What if you utilized the innovation and hidden talent of those in an organization in new ways.
This is not my original idea, others have spoken of this concept. Though I have seen it first hand and how it changes more than you can imagine. It can change corporate culture that put the values painted on the wall of the meeting rooms into action. Their is significant research that proves that "Linking CSR initiatives to specific values can resonate with employees’ personal motivations and cultivate company pride. When employees feel closer to a CSR program, they are more invested in its success and the company as a whole."
America's Charities write: “Alignment of corporate goals, employee interests, and nonprofit needs is essential. Companies can drive greater engagement but they need to align strategically to match corporate and employee interests with the genuine needs of nonprofit organizations.”
How does a company begin to re-evaluate their philanthropy/corporate social responsibility? Ask yourself the following questions: Does your philanthropic investment tell the story told about your company and what it stands for, beyond making a profit? Do your employees have a voice in your priorities from investments to activities the company chooses to engage in philanthropically? Does you current investments of time, talent and treasure match your corporate strategy, brand and culture? Does the nonprofit you partner with align with your business model?
Corporate Social Responsibility is one of the economic pillars for investment in collective change in communities in which people live, work and play. The communities that (your) company employees and your company may call home.
Companies like IBM reevaluated their CSR and established a plan that they claim created a 600 million dollar return on their 200 million dollar investment. What if the money you invest back can come back to you and more? What if your philanthropy improves brand reputation for the long haul and not just 5 minutes?
Philanthropy Delaware advances philanthropy in the first state by connecting key stakeholders to drive meaningful impact in Delawareans. As a member of Philanthropy Delaware, you can receive consultation on a a CSR strategy and so much more information to help you look at what is best for your company, people and community.
"Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary. Martin Luther King, Jr."
Taking the lead from Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of his birthday, I began to analyze the economic inequity in Delaware from an analytical lens. The average income of the top 1% in Delaware is $869,461 and the average income of the remaining 99% is $51,049 a 94% difference. CEO pay has increased from about 20 times the typical worker’s pay to 271 times greater, from 1965 to 2016, according to 2017 a study by the Economic Policy Institute. One way this inequity is measured is a Gini Coefficient (Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality of incomes (or sometimes wealth) across individuals), Delaware is 14th in the country (1 being least disparity) and the US is at it highest level since the 1967 census and the largest in the western civilized countries.
How does economic inequality affect communities? The implication is that high levels of inequality create a permanent underclass forced to compete, sometimes violently, either with itself or with other classes for scarce resources. Trying to get their piece of the pie, which is driven by money. The cities of Dover, Newark and Wilmington have areas that have been persistent poverty tracts. A child whose parents earn less than $25,000 a year have a 6% change of earning over $99,000; Parents earning $25,000 to $48,000 it more than doubles to 14%. You can see the trend, but how to we begin to change this?
Philanthropy can not do it alone. Philanthropy and the non profit sector only accounts for 5% of the GDP, it must work with government, business, and community structures. Here are a few ways Philanthropy can increase their longitudinal impact to balance the scale. Philanthropies understanding of the labor market from pay rates to viable occupations that can effectively and efficiently move income levels for individuals. Philanthropies learning how fiscal policy can be inconsistent not just in dollars, but scope and priorities. Taking stock in Wall street, not just from their internal portfolios but in the areas it affects access to funds for lower wage populations.
Philanthropy, now more than ever is moving in new directions to understand and to create long lasting sustainable change to the economic injustice.
Contact Us: Office: (302) 588-1342info@philanthropydelaware.org
Address:100 W. 10th Street, Suite 500Wilmington, DE 19801
Copyright Philanthropy Delaware, Inc. 2017Philanthropy Delaware, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
