Northern California Grantmakers

The San Francisco Business Times is calling for nominations for their “Beyond the Check Awards” which recognize philanthropic companies that set an example of sharing financial resources and/or getting involved with community programs.

As part of the annual Corporate Philanthropy Summit and Awards, an event that recognizes corporate grantmakers here in the Bay Area, the “Beyond the Check” awards are determined by a special panel of judges. Unlike the rankings unveiled at the Summit which is based on how much a corporate grantmaker gives to Bay Area nonprofits, the “Beyond the Check” awards are based on creative ways of supporting nonprofits with volunteers, expertise, partnerships, and other types of assistance.

How To Nominate

Do you know a philanthropic company that sets an example you wish others would follow? The “Beyond the Check” awards are looking for outstanding businesses that share financial resources and/or get truly involved in community programs.

Here is what you need to do:

1) Identify exemplary companies (non-profit organizations are not eligible).

2) Choose one of the following four categories:

• Community Change and Impact Award, presented by Bank of America
• Community Health Partner of the Year, presented by Kaiser Permanente
• Education Partner of the Year, presented by AT&T
• Community Partnership in Sustainability, presented by Levi Strauss

3) Send an e-mail to tvaness@bizjournals.com or call 415.288.4932 with your e-mail address to receive a nomination form.

4) Complete the nomination form no later than June 1, 2011.

5) Attend the Business Times Corporate Philanthropy Summit on July 20, 2011 from 7:30 am – 10:00 am at the Hilton San Francisco.

Nominating a company is a great way to say thank you for a job well done. Winners will be announced to the Corporate Philanthropy Summit audience and in a special supplement on July 22nd to the 85,000 Business Times readers. The Business Times will be sure to give you credit for the nomination.

All companies with at least 50 employees based in the Bay Area (defined here as Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Solano counties) are eligible to apply. Nonprofit organizations are not eligible for this award but are encouraged to nominate the corporations they work with and admire.

Next year NCG will celebrate its 30th anniversary and as part of the preparation for all that we’ll be doing next year, I’m combing through our archives, sleuthing around the Internet and experimenting with timeline generators.

This week I’ve been working on various timelines: 1) important dates in history for the field of philanthropy; 2) important dates in NCG’s history; 3) important dates in our members’ histories. I’m compiling them all on a nerdy little spreadsheet.

Though all this informational foraging doesn’t sound anywhere near as exciting as say searching for lost artifacts, I do enjoy all the tidbits of historical knowledge I’m learning.

For example, there’s Levi Strauss. Yes, the Levi Strauss, who made his money selling blue jeans, practically inventing them. Today his descendants have established several foundations here in the Bay Area: Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund; Joanne & Peter Haas Jr. Fund; Mimi and Peter Haas Fund; Walter and Elise Haas Fund; not to mention the Levi Strauss Foundation, the corporate giving arm of the Levi Strauss Company.

That’s a lot of philanthropic organizations and that equates to a lot of giving.

And all that giving has a beginning, a point of origin that begins when Levi Strauss endowed 28 scholarships to UC Berkeley (half of them going to women). It’s a wonderful moment to highlight and I dearly want to (and will ultimately find a way to), but there’s a some specific information I’m unable to track down.

You see, what eludes me, after several exhaustive Google searches, is the exact date when Mr. Strauss gave UC Berkeley money for its first scholarships.

Yes, I know the year was 1897, but I’m looking for the day, the month.

Why?

This is where I sigh a bit and explain it’s the timeline generator‘s fault.

You see, I’m gathering all these interesting historical moments in order to compile a timeline. And I found a timeline generator that I’m experimenting with. All you have to do is plug in the day, the month, the year, the title for the “event” and then a description and even a photo (if you like). All of the events float above the timeline and when your mouse hovers over an “event” a little balloon appears with an abridged description. Click on the balloon and it expands to show more detail (and said photo, if you added one).

But here’s the rub.

Say I only know the year that Levi Strauss donated money to UC Berkeley, an event that began a long and rich history of giving on the part of his family to Bay Area communities.

This is why I said the sleuthing has been more Carmen Sandiego and I’m the detective trying to track down that elusive mastermind and return whatever historical artifact she’s stolen. This time it’s an exact date.

Who knows if I’ll find it. Some things are lost forever, especially when there’s no Facebook or computer hard drive to house it.

And if what I’m looking for eludes me, I’ll figure out a work around. Besides, I have to admit, part of all the fun in playing detective/archeologist is…well…the chase.

Since last Thursday when the natural gas explosion and fire devastated a San Bruno neighborhood, there have been many generous donations on the part of individuals and organizations to help with the fire relief efforts.

NCG members have also responded and we’d like to highlight the following members* for their efforts:

AAA of Northern California, Nevada & Utah has arranged for AAA members whose car was lost or damaged by the explosion and fire to receive a rental from their partner Hertz. They will also provide debit cards to their members who were displaced from their homes to help with immediate living expenses.

Bank of America has pledged $25,000 to the Bay Area chapter of the American Red Cross for relief efforts.

Jewish Community Federation is accepting donations that “will be directly distributed to the most effective service providers in the Jewish and general communities.”

Levi Strauss Foundation is offering victims of the explosion/fire a $250 gift card. The gift cards are available through Bay Area Red Cross chapters and can be spent at any Levi’s Store. Victims can receive disaster relief by calling 1-888-443-5772 or going to redcrossbayarea.org.

PG&E has established a “Rebuild San Bruno Fund” which will make available up to $100 million for the residents and city of San Bruno to help recover from the explosion and fire.

The San Francisco Foundation has established a San Bruno Relief Fund. The foundation approved $100,000 to launch the fund.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation has set up a San Bruno Fire Fund. The foundation is offering an initial $100,000 match on all gifts to aid in the response and recovery of this neighborhood.

Wells Fargo has donated to the Bay Area Red Cross to aid victims, will allow customers to make donations to the Red Cross at any of its ATMs in San Mateo County during the month of September.

ZeroDivide Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Wu gives his first-hand account of witnessing the San Bruno explosion and fire on the foundation’s blog.

*Not an exhaustive list. If you’re an NCG member please let us know how you are responding to the San Bruno explosion and fire.