OGF honors outgoing President George Espy

OGF’s Board of Trustees presented George Espy with an Ohio Philanthropy Award last week, during the closing lunch at the annual conference. George, who is retiring at the end of the year, had no idea he would be a recipient, joining Annie and John Glenn as this year’s award winners.

Who would have thought that staff and over 200 members could keep the recognition secret? But we did, and George was obviously surprised and very pleased with the honor. His wife, Cyndy, and daughters Amanda and Holly also surprised him by attending the lunch to see him honored. We presented George with a binder of letters — from OGF members as well as his colleagues at other regional associations – that expressed tremendous appreciation for his efforts on behalf of Ohio and the broader philanthropic sector.

In addition to presenting him with the award, the board created a donor advised fund in his name at the Erie Community Foundation, in Erie, PA.  OGF members contributed about $15,000 to the fund as of last week, so George will become part of “organized philanthropy” in a new role of donor advisor next year, when he’s left behind his 12-year leadership at OGF.

If you’d like to add a letter to the binder, send it along to me at the Columbus office and I’ll make sure it gets added.

John and Annie Glenn Receive Philanthropy Award

Each year, Ohio Grantmakers Forum gives its Ohio Philanthropy Award to someone who represents the essence of philanthropy: building, nurturing and strengthening individuals and communities. When Ohioans think of who best represents the highest values of philanthropy and community service, two names are universally recognized: John and Annie Glenn. Their records of selfless service to Ohio and the U.S. are unsurpassed in this generation, as exemplified by: their support of alma mater Muskingum University; establishing scholarships for needy students; creating the John Glenn School for Public Affairs at The Ohio State University; Mrs. Glenn’s outreach to people with speech and hearing difficulties; and Mr. Glenn’s 24 years of U.S. Senator. OGF is privileged to name them Ohio’s philanthropists for 2012.

OGF President George E. Espy, who presented the award to John and Annie Glenn in September, remarked that, “A hundred years from now, when Americans think of great Ohioans, the names of John and Annie Glenn will come to mind. They humble us by the example they set of lifetime service to Ohio and America.”

A previous commitment prevents Senator and Mrs. Glenn from receiving the award at OGF’s conference in November; their acceptance of the award was videotaped and will be shown during the closing lunch on November 15.

In addition to the award presentation, Senator and Mrs. Glenn graciously agreed to a taped, half-hour interview, a wide-ranging conversation that discussed their deep and life-long commitment to philanthropy. Part of that interview will be shown at the conference and the entire conversation will be available online after the event.

A Rose By Any Other Name?

For the last twelve years, the name of this organization has been Ohio Grantmakers Forum. Before that time there were two regional associations of grantmakers in Ohio – with Donors Forum of Ohio based in Columbus and northeast Ohio’s Grantmakers Forum headquartered within The Cleveland Foundation. In 2000 the two organizations merged to form Ohio Grantmakers Forum. At this year’s annual conference, OGF members will be asked to approve a recommendation that our name be changed again, from Ohio Grantmakers Forum to Philanthropy Ohio.

The rationale for this change is to ensure that our organizational name matches our mission. As a result of a two-year long planning process, we are expanding our statewide network beyond just grantmaking foundations to include other organizations and individuals actively engaged in philanthropy in Ohio. In addition to private, community and corporate foundations, other grantmaking public charities and corporate giving programs, membership in OGF is now open to giving circles, federated funds, governmental agencies and individual philanthropists. And while we expect that grantmakers will continue to comprise the great majority of members, we want our name to indicate that membership is open to all those engaged in philanthropy in Ohio.

OGF’s strategic direction is based on belief that as philanthropy slowly evolves, the organization that represents and serves philanthropy needs to change as well. Donors now have more options than ever before to achieve their charitable goals. The more awareness, information sharing and collaboration we can foster among all those involved in philanthropy, the greater the potential impact on issues of common concern.

A new chapter for OGF begins at this year’s annual conference. I hope you are there to cast your vote for more effective philanthropy in Ohio.

Make the most of your OGF conference experience

It’s 57 days and counting until Philanthropy Forward ’12 begins: if you’re not one of the nearly 250 people who have registered so far, head over to the website today to register using a credit card or to print and mail your form and check.

Whether you’ve registered already or plan to do so this week, it’s not too early to think about what you want to get out of this year’s conference, the first-ever gathering of individuals and organizations involved in Ohio philanthropy. Here are a few ideas for how to get the most out of your conference experience this year:

1. Attend deliberately. If you’re like me, registering so far in advance means you’ve likely forgotten what sessions you signed up for. Review the schedule before you get to the conference  — our online session descriptions have all the details on the topics to be discussed, speakers, their bios and organizations – so you can make sure you go to the sessions that will be most helpful to your work.
2. Nurture your networks. One of the main reasons people come to the conference is to network with their peers from across the state. And, this year, with an expanded list of attendees that includes individuals, giving circles and United Ways, our structured and informal networking opportunities present a new and unique chance to widen your professional circle of peers. Meet some new folks and catch up with those you’ve known for years.
3. Grab all the resources you can. You can’t be in every session so make sure you stop by the learning lounge on Wednesday, visit the vendors, peruse other attendees’ materials  displayed in the exhibit area and pick up a flash drive of conference resources.
4. Take some time off. We’ve added “white space” intentionally in this conference, time for you to reflect on what you’ve heard so far and refresh for the next session. If you’re an early riser, take a walk with your peers at 6:30. Grab a box lunch and sit informally with colleagues at lunch on Wednesday. Tuesday night’s Roll out the Red Carpet event, with food, drinks and short documentaries, is another great place to relax, as are the Wednesday night dine arounds.
5. Take lots of notes. Whether you dictate key takeaways into your smart phone, tap them into your iPad or use old-fashioned pen and paper, jot down the ah-ha moments as they come, so you can reflect on and use them once you’re back in the office.

See you at Philanthropy Forward ’12, in Cleveland, on November 13 – 15.

Politics aside, it’s about rebuilding prosperity

The airwaves are filled with politicians talking about how to revive the country’s economy, and here in Ohio we are certainly seeing and hearing more about their views, since we’re a swing state with lots of electoral college votes. And, you may be pretty tired of hearing that rhetoric already, as I am. What I’m not tired of hearing about – and am, indeed, looking forward to more conversation about – is the many ways that Ohio philanthropy is engaged in building prosperity. That’s the focus of the opening morning of our annual conference in November, during a session titled From Poverty to Prosperity.

I’m excited about it for two reasons. First, we’ve lined up about a dozen philanthropy leaders to talk about six strategic pathways to prosperity:
Creating Wealth
Engaging Community
Improving Community Health Status
Community Revitalization
Reinvigorating Traditional Education
21st Century Career-Tech Education

During conversations on each topic, conference attendees will learn about these key initiatives, about the roles philanthropy plays, what they’ve learned and how their work might be taken to other parts of the state.

And that leads to the other reason I’m looking forward to this session: we’ve done away with the old talking heads panel of experts and are instead using a model of “peeragogy” where we recognize and engage the knowledge of everyone in the room.  A recent blog post by Jeff Hurt on this topic explains peeragogy as being rooted “in the deeper reflection that occurs when peers exchange ideas, thoughts and insights on specific topics.” A new format will engage everyone in the room, turning all into collaborative experts who have knowledge and experience to share, with deeper learning emerging as a result.

Our use of peer-based learning is evident in this year’s conference, from start to finish. It’s just one of the ways we’ve redesigned our premier, statewide convening into a truly 21st century conference.

What book will you read Thursday?

Mario Morino

This Thursday is Read a Book Day in the U.S., what will you be reading? I’d like to suggest that you pick up a book I’m reading, Leap of Reason, Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity, written by Mario Morino; it also includes a compendium of essays by others on the topic of mission effectiveness. Mario is the chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners and the Morino Institute and  he also has deep ties to Cleveland: he serves on the board of directors of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and is an Emeritus Trustee of Case Western Reserve University.

Mario will speak at our annual conference on Thursday morning, November 15, then follow up with a session with a smaller group of philanthropy leaders. He published Leap of Reason last year and distributed it widely; you can download a free copy in digital or PDF here.

I polled a few OGF members to see what they’ll be reading this week and I think you’ll agree it’s an interesting assortment of titles.

• Marcia Egbert, The George Gund Foundation: Alice Schroeder’s bio of Warren Buffett, The Snowball.
• Kathy Merchant, Greater Cincinnati Foundation, says “A group of us in Cincinnati are going to read Family Wealth: Keeping it in the Family. The author is James E. Hughes, Jr.”
• Bob Jacquay, The George Gund Foundation, says “Given the season, I’m actually paging through a few old chestnuts, LOUD & Clear in an Election Year: Amplifying the Voices of Community Advocates (2004).”
• Susan Urano, The Athens Foundation: Walk Out/Walk On by Margaret Wheatley and Debra Freize.
• Kim St. John-Stevenson, Saint Luke’s Foundation: Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, Leap of Reason and If It Takes a Village, Build One by Malaak Compton-Rock.
• Doug Kridler, The Columbus Foundation: The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad.
• John Mullaney, The Nord Family Foundation says “The Righteous Mind, Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. In my opinion it provides valuable insight into many issues we face in philanthropy.”

Use the comment box to let us know what you’re reading!

Chronicle Features 11 Ohio Businesses in Giving Survey

The country’s biggest corporations increased their charitable donations by 4 percent in 2011, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual corporate giving survey. When adding products to the gifts of cash they donated, the increase in giving totaled nearly 15 percent.

Among the 112 companies that provided data to the Chronicle’s survey are 11 businesses headquartered in Ohio (those in bold are OGF members): American Electric Power, Cardinal Health, Eaton Corporation, Kroger Company, Macy’s, Marathon Petroleum, Nationwide, Parker Hannifin Corporation, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and Sherwin-Williams. Nine of the 11 provided their giving data for 2011, which totaled $375.9 million in cash and products. The majority of the Ohio business respondents expect their 2012 donations to remain steady.

The Chronicle data include cash gifts plus the fair market value of any products the companies donated both here and abroad. The numbers do not include donations corporations made to their foundations; nor do they include any valuation for the paid time off for employees who volunteer at charities during work time.

We’ll have more information on the charitable giving by Ohio’s corporate foundations in our annual Ohio Gives report, which we’ll be releasing at the annual conference in November.

Philanthropy Forward Website Launches

OGF’s commitment to making this year’s annual conference a truly 21st century conference is readily evident in its creation of a website devoted just to the conference, philanthropyforward.org.   The new site makes it easier than ever to download the conference brochure, book your hotel room and register. It’s packed with information on sessions, speaker bios, site visits – everything you need in one easy-to-navigate site that allows you to create your conference experience on November 13 – 15 in Cleveland.

We’ve also tapped a few of your colleagues to talk about why they’re coming to the conference, so be sure to click on the “Listen in” button to hear these recordings:

• Rob Briggs, chair of the conference advisory committee and member of the GAR Foundation’s distribution committee
• Barry Doggett, Eaton Corporation
• Ruth Eppig, Sears-Swetland Family Foundation
• Brian Frederick, Community Foundation of Lorain County
• Deborah Hoover, The Burton D. Morgan Foundation
• Heidi Jark, Fifth Third Bank
• Rick Kellar, The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation
• Kate Keller, The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati
• Timothy McCue, The William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation
• Ted Vander Roest, Springfield Foundation
• Gordon Wean, Raymond John Wean Foundation

The website also lists the early registration incentives we’re offering this year, as well as the early-bird discount that saves you $50 if you register by September 1.

What’s also new this year is that we’re opening the conference to individual philanthropists, giving circles and federated funds (including United Ways). There’s something for everyone at this first-ever gathering of all Ohio philanthropies.

We couldn’t have done it without you!

Thanks to the volunteers who provided invaluable insights and expertise that helped in planning this year’s annual conference, Philanthropy Forward’12. Some helped on the advisory committee that shaped the newly-designed conference while others developed specific sessions at the conference. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Mike Batchelor, Erie Community Foundation
Alison M. Belfrage, Ohio State Bar Foundation
Rob Briggs, GAR Foundation
Kathleen Cerveny, The Cleveland Foundation
Amy Cheney, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Vicki Doepker, Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation
Barry Doggett, Eaton Corporation
Deena Epstein, The George Gund Foundation
Brian Frederick, Community Foundation of Lorain County
Pam Howell-Beach, The Stranahan Foundation
Deborah Hoover, Burton D. Morgan Foundation
Rick Kellar, Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation
Melissa Kleptz, The Troy Foundation
Carol Kuhre, The Athens Foundation
Lori Kuhn, Morgan Family Foundation
Angela Lloyd, The Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation
Joan Mazzolini, Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland
Timothy McCue, William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation
Randell McShepard, RPM, Inc.
Kathryn Merchant, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
David Mitzel, Muskingum County Community Foundation
Patricia O’Brien, The Stocker Foundation
John Petures, Akron Community Foundation
Paul Putman, The Cleveland Foundation
Ferenc M. Relle, Jr., Wayne County Community Foundation
Michael Repas, Advocates for Kids
Julie Rittenhouse, GAR Foundation
Karen Sayre, The Cleveland Foundation
Latida Smith, Saint Luke’s Foundation
Kim St. John-Stevenson, Saint Luke’s Foundation
Teleange Thomas, Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland
Judy Thompson, Kettering Family Philanthropies
Gordon Wean, Raymond John Wean Foundation
Jeff Williams, The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati

We appreciate the time and expertise these individuals devoted to developing a 21st century conference that for the first time ever brings foundations, corporate giving programs, individual donors, giving circles and federated funds like United Way together in one place, at one time, to network and learn.
See you in Cleveland in November.

Foundation leadership doesn’t reflect nation’s diversity

Foundation leadership doesn’t reflect nation’s diversity.

That’s the conclusion stated in a recent report from D5, a national coalition to grow philanthropy’s diversity, equity and inclusion.

The coalition is a group of 18 philanthropic infrastructure organizations – including Ohio Grantmakers Forum – that formed two years ago.

OGF began its focus on diversity and inclusion in Ohio’s foundation community in 2007, at a dinner at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center with keynote speaker Julian Bond.  Over the next five years, OGF:

• Formed a Diversity Task Force to explore how we could define and plan efforts to increase diversity and inclusion;
• Created a standing committee of the board, the Committee on Inclusion;
• Adopted the Diversity in Philanthropy Project’s Diversity Principles and encouraged our members to do likewise;
• Initiated a series of newsletter articles introducing the principles and their application to foundation operations;
• Formed a CEO Leadership Circle, a forum for foundation leaders to share learnings and experiences with their Ohio peers; and
• Gathered information on how the diversity principles are being implemented in Ohio foundations.

This June, we are continuing our work with the launch of a first effort to gather data so we can form our own conclusions about the diversity of the foundations in the Buckeye State. We’ll release our own “state of the work” early in the fall, with data and highlights of current activities, then follow up with a session at our annual conference, Ohio Philanthropy Forward ’12, on November 15 in Cleveland. Stay tuned for more on the report and workshop and contact us if you’re an Ohio foundation interested in the topic.