Recording Your Family’s Philanthropic Story
Have you recorded your family’s philanthropic story?
At the heart of every philanthropic act are people who choose to make a positive difference in other people’s lives. Often the unsung stories behind individual donors’ history and intent go unheard.
On June 24, 2010, NCG’s Family Philanthropy Exchange hosted its long-awaited and annual signature program with the intent of encouraging local philanthropists to have their philanthropic stories told. The event, Stories That Inspire: StoryCorps Oral Histories of Bay Area Philanthropist, was held at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and celebrated the philanthropic legacies of Bay Area family philanthropists mother and daughter, Shirley Fredricks and Lisa Parker of The Lawrence Welk Family Foundation and Douglas Goldman (Richard Goldman’s son) of the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund. Rae Richman, Director of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors San Francisco office moderated the real-time StoryCorps demonstration.
The program also included a presentation by StoryCorps Founder and MacArthur Genius David Isay who told the “story behind StoryCorps” by sharing audio excerpts of and extra insights about local philanthropists with the audience. He also shared other recorded StoryCorps interviews over the years since StoryCorps began in 2003. The audience was particularly moved by the love story of Danny and Annie Perasa of Brooklyn, New York.
Listen to Danny and Annie describe their first date.
In an increasingly visual world, Mr. Isay eloquently demonstrated how audio has continued to be one of the most effective means to share compelling stories. However, staying current with the times, StoryCorps is now featuring animation with a few of its interviews.
Thank you to those who attended, the Family Philanthropy Exchange Steering Committee for planning the event, the Contemporary Jewish Museum for graciously hosting us, and to David Isay for inspiring us to record our individual stories. While modesty and privacy certainly have their places in family philanthropy, the message was loud and clear about the importance of capturing your family’s history, which can help guide your philanthropic mission across generations. It was also great to rediscover the art and gift of listening to others.
To record your story with StoryCorps, please visit their website at www.storycorps.org. Thanks to the generosity of the Museum, the StoryCorps booth is now a permanent exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. We encourage you to arrange a StoryCorps interview by contacting Sara Geis at sgeis@storycorps.org
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Tags: David Isay, Douglas Goldman, family philanthropy, family philanthropy exchange, fpe, grantmaker, Lisa Parker, philanthropy, Rae Richman, Shirley Fredricks, storycorps, trustees