Then, I heard about a recent study of high-net-worth households that found that education was the leading concern among affluent donors, ahead of health care, the economy, poverty and the federal budget deficit.
The report, by Bank of America and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, also found that the largest proportion of gift dollars was going to education (followed by philanthropic funds, family foundations and religious organizations). The study also found that the amount given to education increased more than any other category last year.
Some portion of this money certainly went to alma maters. But as I talked to the people who conducted the study, I realized that people were giving more than just money to education causes. They were giving their knowledge and experience.
“One of the more strategic issues in philanthropy is looking at root causes and not at symptoms,” said Claire Costello, philanthropic practice executive at Bank of America’s United States Trust division. “Education is a root cause. One interpretation of the data could be people feel if you rectify our education system, prosperity will flow to all of us.”
Writing a check is simply a matter of figuring out an amount you can afford and sending it off. But actually donating your time, which was not counted by the survey toward the dollars people gave, seemed a far greater level of commitment.
Donating your time does not result in a tax break, though the Bureau of Labor Statistics valued volunteering at $21.79 an hour in 2011.
As I talked to people who were deeply involved in educational philanthropy, I realized that it was actually the time they gave that kept them involved, even if they could have written a large check and been done with it.
Charles R. Bendit, for instance, had built his real estate firm, Taconic Investment Partners, into a successful portfolio of commercial buildings and apartments in the New York region. When he first became interested in giving something back in the 1990s, he said he didn’t have a lot of money but did have some business experience.
A friend suggested he consider education and connected him with Pencil, a nonprofit group that brings business people into public schools. “I figured education makes a lot of sense,” Mr. Bendit said. “Educating our students best prepares them to take on the responsibility of becoming our business and political leaders.”
After volunteering at a couple of different schools, Mr. Bendit was paired up with Sana Q. Nasser, the principal of the Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx. The result has been a partnership of more than a decade that has brought significant improvements in the school, which now has 1,900 students.
Ms. Nasser said she had been a principal for five years when she met Mr. Bendit. At that point, she felt she had stabilized the school, which had been failing when she took over, and was ready to start making improvements. She wanted to start academies within the school that would draw on assets that were not being used, like a television studio and a planetarium.
“I realized very quickly that I needed someone to help me,” Ms. Nasser said. “I didn’t know exactly how to do it. I didn’t have the wherewithal to negotiate all of this.”
But she knew she didn’t want an executive to come in for a day and write her school a check.
“I wanted someone who would stay with me for the long haul,” she said. “I wanted time, their knowledge and commitment, and a wide network of people. I wanted that business connection. I wanted internships for my kids.”
Mr. Bendit said the two hit it off. But before they tackled her dream of having academies within the school, they began working on her ability to delegate to her assistant principals. Without doing that, he said she couldn’t think long term about the school.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/your-money/giving-time-to-schools-sometimes-beats-giving-money.html?partner=rss&emc=rss