Success Story
Lita Reyes
One Child’s Spirit of Giving
One Child’s Spirit of Giving
Thought Leadership, Presentation
Lita Reyes
Engaging Millennials in Philanthropy
Engaging Millennials in Philanthropy

community impact

Finding Meaning in Your Giving

You don’t have to look too far to find a headline reminding you that now is the time to make charitable contributions. For many reasons, including taxes, the end of the year is when we typically reach into our wallets and donate.

Last year, U.S. donors gave more than $3 billion on GivingTuesday alone, a record for the day of philanthropy that falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. With fundraising power like that, it’s no surprise that GivingTuesday is a key part of nonprofit donor drives at the end of the year.

Of course, giving is not just a one and done. GivingTuesday, which launched in 2012 as a way to encourage people to give back, has spawned a “global generosity movement” that extends well beyond a single day. 

Truly, our hearts are always open to helping—whether it’s at home, next door, or a world away.  I’ve certainly found that to be true in my work.  

Over the past few months, we’ve shared stories about the giving landscape, including how it’s changed since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. From crowdfunding campaigns to personal foundations to socially conscious nonprofits, we’ve highlighted the thoughtful and meaningful ways people are making a difference today. 

In fact, the desire to improve lives is a key reason people give. Research shows we genuinely want to play a part in making the world a better place. 

For my friend Sharon Martinelli, that meant giving to a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe so a woman faced with medical bills could have some financial peace of mind.

Like Sharon, more and more people are becoming medical angels, and sites like GoFundMe, the largest platform for medical crowdfunding, are making it easier. Many donors, including Sharon, say they feel a bond with the people they are supporting.

Connections—to a person, to an organization, to a cause—play an important part in philanthropy. One of the joys of my work is helping people connect their values and beliefs with their giving.

In a story about setting up a foundation, we introduced you to a donor we called Ben. Ben’s values have always driven his giving decisions.

By establishing a private foundation, Ben was able to stay in control of his contributions, gain tax advantages, and support causes dear to him, such as education and health care.

Those two areas also figure prominently in Americans’ overall giving. Last year, individuals contributed nearly two-thirds of the $500 billion directed to charity, with education and health landing in the top five categories, according to Giving USA’s annual philanthropy report.

Yet, unfortunately, too often we feel like our donations are not producing the societal change we want and hope to see. 

The nonprofit, nonpartisan group RepresentUs is working on a solution. In a guest column, Lauren Bartolozzi, the organization’s vice president of development, wrote that a dysfunctional political system contributes to the problem by incentivizing the wrong things.

But—and it’s an important but—Lauren says we can turn things around by working together for a stronger democracy. We can be the change we want to see in the world. In this season of giving and gratitude, that sounds like just the right message.

As you review your year-end giving, are your donations where you want them to be?
Do they match your beliefs and values? To help you decide:

Spend a few minutes with our short survey and learn about next steps.

Reach out and send us your contact information to connect and get started.

From Crayola Crayons to Keeping Musicians Employed

In these difficult and uncertain times, we often seek comfort from the friends and family who mean the most to us. For me, my mother is my touchstone. I hope you’ll enjoy these memories I’m sharing—and I’d love to know who sustains you. Be well.

When I work with my clients, I am sometimes reminded of the wealth in my own family’s legacy. It informs me about my passions—and why I pursue them. Recently, I’ve been thinking about what I know about my mom. Although, sadly, she passed in 2002, the discoveries keep unfolding. It’s heartening that my passion for giving and making a difference for my clients enables me to do the same with my life.

Looking back it is easier to see that my mother was very creative. She would decorate our home and bake for the holidays with her signature flair, of course. When it came to Christmas presents from Santa for me, she had three intentions. The gifts were (1) to further my learning, something like books, flash cards, puzzles, and workbooks, (2) to encourage play with dolls, marbles, and game boards, or (3) to spur my creativity with art supplies. 

From Crayola crayons and coloring books, to watercolors and sketch pads, to her encouraging my grandfather to purchase my first Kodak Tele-Ektra camera, she knew just the right ways to spur my imagination.

Mom and me

Mom and me

Today, I’m able to reconnect to the bliss and delight of my creativity through problem-solving for businesses and building strategic giving plans for donors. When I realized my newfound enthusiasm for contemporary music was building as a result of a new client, I traced its roots back to the support I received from my mother for self-expression. (Fun note is that fortunately, my partner, Scott, is also enjoying the concerts. I’m lucky I don’t need to “drag” him behind me to performances.)

For these reasons, I am happy that the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players are a part of my work and play. Full disclosure is the Board hired my firm to help them enhance how they and the staff execute their strategic plan for the ensemble’s 50th anniversary this fall. When I listen to newly composed pieces and absorb the group’s beaming blend of joy and singular talent, I’m reminded of my mom’s foresight and planning.

Thanks to the seeds of creativity she planted, I am open to countless ways of expression—like hearing the Contemporary Music Players coax melodies from two blocks of ice during the U.S premiere of a new work by Bay Area resident and Canadian composer Vivian Fung, a graduate of The Juilliard School. You can share the dynamic experience here as Haruka Fujii displays her artistry in the performance.

The Contemporary Music Players have thrived in the Bay Area as a nonprofit. They got their start playing in the galleries of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It is fantastic as a visual arts lover that I can “listen to modern art,” as Eric Dudley, the group’s artistic director, is fond of saying. Who knew that was even possible?  

Lisa Oman, the executive director, likes to remind us that the group’s performances serve another important purpose:  “Our work has a direct impact on our musician’s livelihoods and helps ensure they remain employed.”

As I continue to nourish my passion for creativity—whether through my own work with clients or through the artistry of groups like the Contemporary Music Players—my mother is never far away, inspiring me, guiding me, and leading me to new experiences.

Planting the Seed of Advocacy

“Where do green beans come from?” It may sound like a simple question, but the impact of the answer could be the moment a child cultivates a lifelong passion. 

That’s what happened with Sharon Danks. Watching her mother pick vegetables in the family garden, a young Sharon asked the question and then heard an answer that set her on a green path: “You grow them,” her mother said.

Since those long ago days in the garden, Sharon has evolved into an influential advocate for creating vibrant public spaces for schoolchildren. As the executive director of Green Schoolyards America, Sharon and her organization seek to transform asphalt-covered school grounds into parklike green spaces that improve children’s well-being, learning and play while contributing to the ecological health and resilience of our cities.

California youth especially benefit from her work and thrive in well-developed playgrounds. In Oakland, Sharon co-authored the Living Schoolyard Policy for the Oakland Unified School District. The policy, which the school board adopted, outlines a vision for green schoolyards across all of Oakland’s 80-plus schools and starts the process of establishing a formal framework to implement that major change. 

The policy is unique because it combines ideas about children’s health and education with environmental resilience. It also includes a stellar lineup of collaborators with The Trust for Public Land and the Sierra Club.

Sharon’s passion for positive social change is shared by her brother and sister-in-law, who are Green Schoolyards America supporters. Once her brother learned how many children would benefit from green schoolyards, the couple were compelled to support the group. 

“People who visit national parks and the children who actually visit them are dwarfed in comparison to the number of kids who play in schoolyards,” he says. “We don’t think about managing the land that way. Our schoolyards are distributed lands just as much as our national parks, and we can be the same care keepers of those as much as our very backyard.”

Sharon’s brother and his wife make Green Schoolyards America – and giving – a priority. They recognized immediately the opportunity they have to be stewards of incredible lands where there can be positive health impacts on our children in our own neighborhoods, every day.

Meaningful connections like those drive the couple’s giving decisions. Before they give, the pair ask themselves these three questions:

  1. To what extent does the organization care about the problem, and what is the nonprofit trying to solve?

  2. Can the person leading the organization do the hard work of getting the work done to manifest the full vision?

  3. Is there something about the strategy of this nonprofit that will give it a greater than normal chance to be successful and actually win at solving the problem?

Fortunately, Green Schoolyards America continues to pursue its growth emboldened by its success. Sharon is also seeking a new interdisciplinary initiative designed to align state policy and funding to change the norm for California’s 6.2 million children on 130,000 acres of school grounds. 

With Green Schoolyards America’s leadership, the future may indeed be greener. After all, wouldn’t you like to see where green beans come from?

Cover and closing photos by Paige Green

Cover and closing photos by Paige Green

One Child’s Spirit of Giving

Many 6-year-olds would be thinking nonstop about what they could buy with the profits from their lemonade stand. 

But our youngest donor, Nanette, is not your average child. She donated the earnings from her first neighborhood lemonade stand to her local animal shelter, Marin Humane Society.

Nanette got the idea from lessons she learned from her parents. Natalie and Paul wanted to instill in Nanette the idea of giving through earned income converted into a donation. Natalie and Paul were exposed to the values of charity throughout their childhoods and in church. 

Nanette was so inspired by her act of giving that she wanted to donate on a larger scale. She and her mother approached Nanette’s Girl Scout troop with the idea of a big lemonade sale.

The group of 13 girls grossed $340 from their lemonade stand and by unanimous decision donated the money to the same animal shelter. They liked the idea of a long-term commitment and supporting the stray cats and dogs in their community. 

What got the troop really excited was how many dogs and cats they could feed with the money. A week of pet food for an animal was $35. To top that, when the girls went to visit the shelter and give their donation, they also brought leashes and more food, along with dog and cat toys.

The next community project for Nanette and her troop? Volunteering. The girls are too young to volunteer formally, so Natalie and the other moms are identifying effective and strategic options to have their daughters meaningfully engaged in giving of their time. As a result, the girls will spend time with the elderly residents in their neighborhood.

And so it goes. From one literal lemon we can see how the lessons of giving can influence one child and spread to those around her. Nanette, with help from her mother, has used her family’s values to set in motion a culture of caring in her neighborhood.

A glass of lemonade anyone?

Photos courtesy of Natalie S.


Code of Caring – Three Generations Strong

R.B. Brown, photo courtesy of Calvin Brown

R.B. Brown, photo courtesy of Calvin Brown

A code of caring can start at home. It’s how some families define their commitment to each other. It’s their safety net ensuring no one is left out or left behind. And when that net is extended beyond the family, an indelible legacy is created.

This is the theme of one man’s vision, R.B. Brown, who was born into a family of modest means in central Oklahoma. R.B. was a self-made man who made his money in the oil industry, raised a family, and developed a code of caring in his backyard of tiny Wilson, Oklahoma.

If R.B. learned a child needed clothing to go to school, he’d frequently and anonymously buy them something to wear. On occasion, for the senior prom, he purchased suits and dresses for the needy students so that they could attend and celebrate their rite of passage. 

R.B.’s compassion and concern for others has been passed down to his son, Calvin, who is carrying on the family tradition in Wilson. After his wife, Katie, died, Calvin started a memorial scholarship in her name for graduating high school seniors. 

The annual scholarship enables one deserving senior from Wilson High School to go to college. The winner receives funding for the freshman and sophomore years, considered the most difficult to get through. To be considered, students must demonstrate scholastic achievement, be inclusive, demonstrate a pattern of giving to others in need, and be well-liked by teachers, staff, and classmates.

R.B.’s legacy of caring continues with his grandchildren, including Scott, who lives in a large city and regularly buys meals for homeless individuals he meets on the street.

What began as one man’s vision to help others has expanded over three generations. R.B.’s commitment to others and his code of caring set an example for his family and was the catalyst for a net of compassion cast far beyond Wilson.

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