Honoring Volunteers: Starr Foundation
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Barbara Fox were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper dated
Wednesday,
December 23, 1998. All rights reserved.
Baby Boomers as Donors: Giving Time and Money
As baby boomers get old enough and rich enough to be
philanthropists, they are giving money away in a very responsible
way. That’s what Harry O’Mealia concludes from a survey just
released by Manhattan-based Financial Market Research.
O’Mealia is president and CEO of U.S. Trust Company of New Jersey,
headquartered on Vaughn Drive. In order to better understand its own
customers, U.S. Trust commissions the semi-annual surveys to poll
affluent Americans. Both the survey respondents and the customers
of U.S. Trust fit the category of having either an adjusted gross
income of more than $225,000 annually or a net worth greater than
$3 million. The private bank then publishes the results as a
contribution
to sociological and economic discourse.
“I was wondering how much of it is children of the ’60s coming
into the years when they can start to give back. That was a generation
that was very concerned with improving the world. As these people
become 40 and 45 year olds, they are a generous people,” says
O’Mealia, citing Ted Turner as one of the generous ones,
“giving
a billion dollars to the U.N.”
A self-professed “tail-end baby boomer,” O’Mealia was a
European
history major at the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 1976.
“We
were the kids in high school when the real activists were in
college,”
says O’Mealia. After getting law and business degrees from Boston
College and Columbia, respectively, he ran the family business (a
New Jersey-based billboard firm) after his father died, and then
practiced
law and worked for J.P. Morgan, starting a private bank, before being
hired for the Princeton office of the trust company.
U.S. Trust charges a maximum of one percent of funds under management;
it has 53 employees at 5 Vaughn Drive, including 8 portfolio managers,
12 people who work with law and accounting firms to help clients with
long term wealth plans, plus researchers and personnel in its private
bank. It opened an 8.5-person office in Morristown (O’Mealia commutes
between Morristown and Princeton).
A startling 25 percent of all personal giving, $27 billion, comes
from the affluent. The methodology of the survey involved 150
20-minute
telephone interviews with individuals who had a total gross household
income of at least $225,000. The recruiting list consisted of randomly
generated listed telephone numbers within zip codes known for high
median househould incomes. The respondents were equally divided
between
men and women, and 63 of the 150 respondents had incomes of from
$225,000
to $400,000, with 26 making more than that. Half of them were married
and had never been divorced, and more than half (88) were over 40.
One fifth were self-employed or owners of small businesses. One sixth
were or had been in the financial industry, and the next largest
professional
category was health care. Half had two or more children.
The affluent people who responded to this survey appear to have made
their own fortunes. “Most of them have humble backgrounds,”
says O’Mealia. “They want the same drive, values, and enjoyment
passed down to their kids. There’s a sort of messianic quality to
the achievers, to share their good fortune in a way that others will
take up the torch and do the same thing.”
The question of why people give money to charity and do volunteer
work hit home to him. “A lot of the parents felt that one of the
major reasons that they contribute to charity, whether money or time,
is to help instill a certain set of values in their children,”
says O’Mealia.
“That really struck a chord with me that that is an important
thing to do for our kids. My wife and I feel very strongly about
it,”
says O’Mealia. She works at a shop that donates proceeds to Bonnie
Brae, a school for at risk children, and he serves on various boards
(the advisory board of Zap Rap, which provides remedial education
programs for teens on ethics and moral issues, and the Garden State
Cancer Center) and coaches ice hockey and lacrosse teams on which
his four children are playing (one of the daughters is playing
full-check
boys’ high school ice hockey).
“I am a very big believer in team sports as one way of teaching
people how to move toward a common goal. I have been on great teams
and terrible teams and have learned a lot from both,” says
O’Mealia,
“how to support people in good times and bad and how to accomplish
objectives together.”
Baby boomers are also smart givers. “They look at charities the
way they look at businesses, and judge the quality of management.
They go through a business analysis,” says O’Melia. Here is what
affects the affluent giving patterns:
A bull market. Last June’s survey showed that, as a resultof stock market gains, the wealthy had increased their contributionsto religious groups and charities by 62 percent. This survey showedthat the upswing encouraged 70 percent of those surveyed to increasetheir giving, but 49 percent will cut back on their contributionsif the stock market turns sour.Reasons for giving: A critical need motivates 98 percent,and 65 percent respond to government spending cuts. Sixty-nine percentsimply believe they should share their good fortune, and 79 percentwant to support good causes.Tax policies: An amazing 95 percent would continue tocontribute if their contributions were not tax deductible, but 41percent said their contributions would be smaller. “There is aningrained principlein this gorup that says I should give somethingback,” says O’Mealia.Volunteer record: Of all that responded, 83 percentpercentvolunteer their time as well as their money, and they average 17 hoursa month. The majority devote their efforts to healthcare/medicalcharitiesor cultural organizations. Education and religion are second. Theleast popular (less than 25 percent) are athletics, public affairs,environment, and animal welfare.Solicitation tactics: The least effective situation iswhen a business associate asks for money. Also low on the scale arepressure from acquaintences or the desire to get respect andrecognition.But 75 percent respond to efficiency (when the organization uses thetime or money effectively), and 29 percent want an ability to getinvolved or see some direct impact.Local charities: 58 percent want their money to stay inthe community where they live.One way in which these philanthropists are not so smart — or maybea little bit lazy — is that they don’t often use techniques andtools to ratchet up the value of their gifts. stat tk. “If youask the universities and the Ys and the United Way, there are toolsto maximize the value of your gifts to your favorite charities, giftsof low basis stock, the use of vehicles such as foundations, andcharitableremainder trusts.””We have had an exceptional run here,” says O’Mealia. “Themarket has taken care of a lot of concerns about `Will I haveenough?'”He admits that he is talking about the top one percent of people inthe nation. “These people are not giving away their eatingmoney.”And when they are volunteering their time, they aren’t doing thaton top of having to hold down two jobs. “But people are choosingareas to commit time and money and whatever other resources they cancommit for the betterment of society.”Top Of PageHonoring Volunteers: Starr FoundationThose who serve on municipal and nonprofit boards laborin relative obscurity. They do not get the grateful smiles of thehungry who have been fed, the sick who have been tended, or themusicianswho have performed. Mostly, they get aggravation and arguments fromtheir constituents.A new foundation, honoring the late Princeton Borough Council memberSandra Starr, aims to give awards to unsung community leaders.”The foundation will be concerned with civic issues in this areaalone, encouraging young people in their 20s and 30s to becomeinvolved,”says Paul Starr, her husband. “Look around and you don’tsee people at that age attending meetings and sitting on boards.”(His comment was made even before resignations were announced ofPrincetonBorough councilman Mark Freda, 42, and Princeton TownshipcommitteewomanMichelle Tuck-Ponder, 40, both of whom cited familyresponsibilities.)Paul Starr recalls the “extraordinary” collective talent thatserved with his wife when she was on the Board of Public Health.”Onthat board was the former dean of a school of public health, atoxicologist,and a pediatrician, and Sandra had two degrees in public health. Noone was aware that these people were working hard for theirbenefit.”He remembers that Sandra found it difficult to recruit people to serveon boards and commissions. “With two-career families, it is noteasy for people to make the commitment,” says Starr. Thecommitmentis sometimes known as the “third shift” syndrome. “Shehad a job. She had four children. And she concerned herself with thecommunity in the evening. But there are great rewards and greatsatisfactions.The community needs those people to do it, and they need to be giventhe respect. That’s why we have the awards.”The Sandra Starr Awards for Community Leadership will recognize peopleunder 40 who have contributed significantly to public life andcommunityimprovement in the Princeton-Mercer area. Another foundation award,this one not defined by a particular age group, will honor MargenPenick, who died just a few days before Starr passed away. ThePenick award will be for contributions to planning, design, and theenvironment.Sandra Starr’s most recent public service was as a member of PrincetonBorough Council; she died at age 44 on October 1. The foundation hasreceived nearly 100 contributions amounting to more than $10,000,and her husband has made an initial commitment to the foundation of$100,000 over five years. As an operating foundation, it will notaccept proposals for grants but will apply for grants from otherorganizationsto support specific projects. Starr describes it as a “aprogressivelyoriented leadership development and policy foundation at the communitylevel.””The Foundation hopes to do, on a small, local level, what somethink tanks do on a larger national scale,” says Starr. Hedeclinesto name a national organization after which this one might be modeled,noting that might suggest a false association with a particular one.But he does offer an example on the opposite side of the politicalspectrum, the conservative Heritage Foundation. In addition to theawards, the foundation will also support a publication series, awebsite(https://epn.org/ssf.html), and two annual conferences.The first conference, entitled “Beyond the Sleepy College Town:The Future of the Greater Princeton Community,” will be held onSaturday, April 24 (the morning of Princeton’s Communiversity Day);it will address the long-term social and economic trends affectingthe Princeton-Mercer area over the next 25 years. In late fall 1999there will be a workshop on community issues and leadership skillsfor people serving in public office or active in communityorganizations.”In the months before she died we looked at pictures from heryouth. When she was 12 she was raising money for the American CancerSociety,” says Starr. “She was always involved in activitiesof that kind. When I met her, she was trying raise money for a shipto pick up the Vietnamese “boat people.” She had the idea thatif they could sell the movie rights they could get the money. Shewas always looking for innovative ways in order to meet somealtruisticpurpose.”Sandra Starr was born in Los Angeles, where her father was a publichealth administrator, and earned a music degree at the Universityof California at Davis, and two master’s degrees in public healthfrom University of California at Berkeley. At the time of her deathshe was the research director of the New Brunswick-based Associationof Community Health Plans (nonprofit HMOs). Paul Starr, an alumnusof Columbia and Harvard, teaches sociology of Princeton University,co-founded the journal “American Prospect,” and is perhapsbest known for his book “Social Transformation of AmericanMedicine.”The Starrs have four children: Rebecca, 16; Olivia, 14;Raphael, 11; and Abigail, 7.The board includes Paul Starr, Ingrid Reed, Elyse Pivnick, LouiseSchiller, and Pam Hersh. Donations to the Sandra StarrFoundationmay be sent to the Law Offices of Katherine Benesch, 993 LenoxDrive, Suite 200, Lawrenceville 08658. For information E-mail:starr@princeton.edu or contact Paul Starr at 609-924-6992.The foundation’s mission statement quotes folksinger PeteSeeger:”You have to do your job. You have to think about how to do yourjob better. And you have to prepare someone to do your job when youcan no longer do it.” The statement goes on to say: “TheSandraStarr Foundation will not do the job of local governments,commissions,and nonprofit community institutions, but it will try to help themthink about how to do their job better, and to develop new leaderswho can carry on their work in the future.”Top Of PageEducate Your VolunteersDonors respect charities that are well organized andthat find ways to use, not just their money, but their time. At leastthose were the conclusions of the most recent survey of U.S. Trust,as reported by Harry O’Mealia in the story above.Just how do you do this? Rich Male offers some tips on how toinvolve board members in fund raising. Male founded the CommunityResource Center, which provided leadership and training services tomore than 3,000 nonprofits nationwide. He also published the “NewJersey Grants Guide: 1998-99” ($149, 888-2Grant9,https://www.grantseeker.com/ggp).This comprehensive guide is invaluable for those seeking grants, butit also provides very useful lore for donors and volunteers as well.Male’s tips:Energize your board members by starting and endingmeetingson time and showing specific and tangible progress on organizationalgoals. Conduct educational sessions so that your board members areconstantly learning new information.Conduct yearly retreats to establish goals, reviewactivities,let people get to know each other, and have fun.Become as visible as you can to get name recognition.Ask board members to set up speaking engagements. Encourage them towrite letters, articles, or op-ed pieces as a way to gain freeexposure.Position yourself well with local and state officials.Invite staff members to serve on a committee. REmind board membersto write letters to their elected representatives.Get names of 10 friends from each board member and askthem to write personal notes on donor request letters.Survey volunteers to find out where they bank, shop,conductbusiness, or attend church or synagogue. They can serve as “dooropeners” when you approach these places for in-kind donations.Set high expectations when recruiting new board membersso they don’t fall into a routine of doing the minimum.Remember the personal touch. Keep track of birthdays andimportant anniversaries and send flowers or a card. If news of amemberappears in the newspaper, share it with the staff and other directors.”Make sure that your expectations about raising money are clearand in writing for all board members,” says Male. “Boardmemberswant to raise money for a cause they care about.”Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
