Philanthropy: Engaging and Equipping the Next Generation

How will the next generation of leaders contribute to the world of philanthropy or will they? Giving time, money and talent has been a hallmark of society in America for decades and even centuries. People have given their time, talent and treasure to schools, churches, civic organizations and a host of other nonprofit endeavors. Previous generations, including both my parents and grandparents, did their part to support and give of themselves. It was engrained in their culture. 
 
We now have an intelligent and sophisticated group of young people that will soon enter the workforce. We need to be sure to expose this next generation to philanthropy the way the last two generations before me. 
 
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is embarking on a new partnership designed to educate and inspire today’s college students about the world of philanthropy. Our goal is to help them understand the philosophical underpinnings of the philanthropic sector by hearing and learning from leaders across the southeast. We help educate students about the operational and organizational aspects of the field of philanthropy including: 

• What it means to serve on a board
• What it means to create a Trust to give funds to the community
• What it means to work in the field of philanthropy and nonprofits
• What the jobs are in these sectors and what skills are needed to fill those jobs
• How to understand issues that impact the community and 
• How an individual can make a difference.

Once these areas are covered, the students will create a project that will benefit an underserved population in their community. The project will build on the students’ skills and abilities. “Hands on” experiences have much value and enable students to learn and grow very quickly. It is an opportunity to put into practice what they are taught in the classroom. 
 
With their peers, students will explore the breadth and depth of the nonprofit sector, acquiring the aptitude, knowledge and network to engage with philanthropy in a deliberate way. In the coming months, the Foundation will announce the partnership and this new program for next generation leaders.
 
I am very optimistic about the upcoming generation of leaders. Given the right tools and exposure to good role models, they will carry the torch of leadership in philanthropy well into the future. As a philanthropic Foundation, we will do our part to ensure this happens. 

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

All of South Carolina’s Fathers and Children Deserve to Celebrate this Father’s Day

Father’s Day is a special time of the year.  It is a time to celebrate. It is a time to be thankful.  It is an opportunity to spend time with our fathers or reflect on the memories we have of fathers no longer with us.  Also, as fathers, we can think about those special times we have had with our own children. However, many children will spend this Father’s Day without a dad involved in their lives. An important initiative of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is to reconnect fathers and their children. In many of South Carolina’s poor communities, the absence of a father in the household is pervasive. Research shows that father absence leads to negative outcomes for children and bears significant social and economic consequences.   

Since 1998, our Foundation has invested more than $18 million to reengage fathers and their children, and help fathers become contributing members of society. Our fatherhood programs around South Carolina support relationship building, job training, GED attainment, child support payment, health access and other important programs and resources that help fathers assimilate back into a productive family life.

Last year, more than 1,700 men were served through the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, an outgrowth of the Foundation’s Fatherhood Initiative.  Of these men, 527 gained employment and an additional 261 men received a better paying job. Nearly one third of these fathers improved their relationship with their child or children.

One extremely important financial statistic is that these fathers paid $1,151,759 in child support payments in 2011 and $188,000 in arrears payments.  Had fatherhood programs not existed for these men, they likely would have landed in jail at great expense to South Carolina taxpayers. This year, 2012, marks the ten-year anniversary of the Foundation’s establishment of the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families. Over the past decade, thousands of men were served throughout state. Thousands of men have entered the workforce and millions of dollars were collected in child support payments. There are no quick fixes or easy answers to a lot of the problems these fathers face. Fatherhood programs through the Center are changing the lives of fathers and children and the results are measurable and successful. 

This is a time in which we express gratitude for our own fathers and for our own children. South Carolinians should also be grateful for programs and services that are provided for those fathers that have very few options and are struggling to meet their parental and financial obligations. Let’s hope that this Father’s Day is special for all of South Carolina’s fathers and their children. They truly deserve it.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

KIDS COUNT Releases Report on Kinship Care

More than 2.7 million children in the United States are cared for by extended family members, with more than 5.8 million children living in grandparents’ homes. This represents an increase close to 18 percent in the last decade. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 13.1 percent of South Carolina’s children under the age of 18 live in households led by grandparents or other relatives.

Kinship care refers to grandparents and other relatives who have stepped up to raise children whose parents can no longer care for them. Kinship care givers help keep families together and keep children from entering the foster care system. However, these relative caregivers and the children they are raising are often isolated. They lack the knowledge on the support services, resources, programs, benefits, laws and policies available to help them successfully fulfill their caregiving role.

In April the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina held a listening session focused on the perspectives of kinship care providers, a growing and vulnerable population across South Carolina. The Foundation partnered with one of its current grantees, Helping and Lending Outreach Support (HALOS), which provides resources and special opportunities to abused and/or neglected children and their caregivers through partnerships with faith-based and other community organizations in Charleston and the surrounding area.

Read the report summarizing the Kinship Care Listening Session.

Today, the Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT released a report, Stepping Up for Kids: What Government and Communities Should Do to Support Kinship Families. In this report, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Foundation explores the increased number of children living with kinship care providers, including the latest state data and recommendations on how to support kinship families.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina continues to explore the issues affecting these families and how they can receive the resources and support needed.

Brooke Bailey is the director of communications and public policy for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Your Voice Matters: Reflecting on 2011 Listening Sessions

Sometimes the most meaningful and humbling human encounters we have with each other is when we pause and step away from the distractions of emails, smart phones and our “to do” list, to listen to the heartfelt concerns of others that can only be experienced in conversations together. In 2011, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina hosted four Listening Sessions across the state with over 200 community members representing nearly 100 organizations participating. Each person present lent their unique voice and perspective to the challenges and opportunities families experiencing poverty currently face. 

In April, Foundation board and staff listened first-hand to more than 20 college students from Claflin University in Orangeburg, some of whom were first generation college students and participants in the federal TRIO program. These students shared some of the struggles they faced in completing high school, their dreams for their future, the importance of positive role models and the many steps of faith they took in order to pursue higher education. One young adult shared, “It’s not how much you have; it’s what you do with what you have.” We also met with committed community advocates and leaders working each day to address poverty in their community.

In celebration of Father’s Day, the Foundation partnered with the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, in June, to hear the perspectives of fathers from each of the six fatherhood programs throughout the state. Becoming a father was transformational, as one father expressed the sentiments of all the fathers in the room, “My kids inspire, uplift and motivate me to be a better man and father.” The fathers shared from their heart life circumstances before joining the fatherhood program, how they were able to move forward with the support of fatherhood program staff and the many ways hope has been rebirthed in their lives. 

 In July, Foundation representatives met with community service providers and homeless individuals and families to hear from those experiencing poverty and homelessness in Greenville. The Foundation heard multiple stories of the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect, as one individual shared, “There is more to me than my present circumstances.” All of the families desired to keep their family unit together, were working to overcome the multiple barriers faced in order to move ahead and relayed how having people who truly cared about their well-being made the biggest difference in their life. 

In October, Women Religious in South Carolina gathered for a Listening Session, as part of the Foundation’s Collaboration for Ministry Initiative, which assists and supports Sisters in their efforts to meet the needs of the poor and underserved members of society. The Sisters reflected upon their journeys, past and present, and the future dreams they hold for their ministries. One Sister emphasized, “Start with a dream and worry about the money later. God always gives you what you need.” Their stories illustrated the many ways they acted in faith, serving as bridge builders and anchors of faith to community members.

Given the high levels of poverty in South Carolina, there is a lot of work ahead for the Foundation to achieve its vision for all families in South Carolina to have the resources they need to live out of poverty. Throughout each Listening Sessions, we are reminded of the importance of continuing our work by listening to the voices individuals of directly impacted by the issues we care deeply about. They know what is most needed to support their journey. When we stop to listen, we often hear the answers to some of our most pressing challenges today. Let us continue to listen, their voices matter.

Read the full summary of the 2011 Listening Sessions.

Stephanie Cooper-Lewter is the senior director of research for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Easter Greetings

The Lord is Risen.


May the glory of the Lord’s miracle
strengthen your faith
and renew your hope.
May you rejoice
in the triumph of the Lord,
and may your life be blessed
with His love
on Easter and always.


"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," -1 Peter 1:3

The Importance of Your Reputation

How important is an organization’s reputation in today’s competitive marketplace? It is not an exact science but it is incessantly important and there is no denying it. An organization’s reputation is everything. It is fundamental to every fabric of an organization’s ability to be successful. It is crucial to recruiting board members, raising money and delivering services; once your reputation is tainted, it is very hard to recover.

So the question becomes, “how do you protect your reputation?” Here are some key principles I believe are valuable and will give you something to reflect on.

• Mission first. No matter what you do, always have the mission of the organization at the forefront of every decision. Ask yourself the question, “how does this affect the mission?”
• Be transparent. You should be an open book and be willing to share information, including financial information freely
• Communicate the good work you are doing. Other people will benefit from the knowledge of your work and gain a positive impression because of it.
• Build strong ambassadors. You can’t do it alone. Whether it is a board member or other volunteers, your network will expand and your reputation will improve because others are also singing your praises to the community.
• Listen to your clients. It helps fulfill your goals by incorporating certain expectations and suggestions that clients have of you. They are your most important stakeholders.
• Learn from your mistakes. We all make them and we can all do a better job because we have learned a valuable lesson from them.
• Be passionate. If you don’t show enthusiasm, how can anyone else get enthused?
• Be honest and forthright. There is no better way to protect your reputation than truth and honesty.
• Quality is essential. Whether it is a letter, a brochure, a presentation, a newsletter or something else, the quality must always be exemplary.
• Look and act professional. People associate you with the organization you represent. How you look and what you say is paramount to your organization’s reputation.
• Be respectful and patient. No matter how stressed and overwhelmed you are, take the time to engage others in conversations and discussions. Be open to dialogue and never be in too big of a hurry to talk or share.

Organizational success is harder to find today than ever before. There are a lot of reasons for today’s level of parody. It is our work environment, competition, economy and a saturated market that can significantly impact nonprofit organizations. A competitive advantage can be achieved by using some of these simple principles. Your reputation may be your greatest asset. You must protect it and nurture it. Not once in awhile, but every day. If you can do that, then it will add to your success and help bring others along to insure future successes. It may not be a check from a donor but it is just as important.


Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

Our Eyes Were Opened: The Experience of Poverty

On February 28, 2012, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina co-sponsored a poverty simulation with The Cooperative Ministry held at NorthStar Christian Center in Columbia. Facilitated by Beth Templeton of United Ministries, the poverty simulation provided participants who came from locations across the state with a deeper understanding of the day-to-day realities facing individuals and families experiencing poverty.

The poverty simulation could not have been timelier. Based on the most recent data available through the KIDSCOUNT Data Center, South Carolina has the 7th highest poverty rate in the nation, with 18% of the population with incomes below the federal poverty level. In 2010, a family of two adults and two children fell in the “poverty” category if their annual income fell below $22,113. Imagine living on an income of less than $22,113 for a family of four. That’s exactly what participants were asked to do in the poverty simulation. 
 

As part of the poverty simulation, each participant was assigned to a family based on real-life scenarios that every day people encounter. As the weeks passed during the simulation, participants felt a growing sense of desperation, anger, frustration and heartache as they realized their families many needs could not be met within the month. Some participants were forced to choose between purchasing weekly groceries, rent or making payment on a loan to the bank for a car that no longer worked. Some participants lost their employment due to an unexpected illness, having to take care of other family responsibilities or the inflexibility to access services outside of their work day. Some families had to leave their children at home unattended in order to tend to other competing, more pressing family responsibilities. Some participants needed specific job skills while others needed a better education in order to be employed. Even some with employable skills found that there were no jobs available or lacked transportation to get to work. Some started out homeless, while others lost their housing throughout the course of the month. Some were elderly and remained unnoticed by the community around them. 

Throughout the course of the poverty simulation, only a few families managed to move ahead. It was difficult for most to overcome their presenting situations, given the limited resources available based on their various family starting points. Most of us forget how many resources it takes to truly move out of poverty, given the range of financial, social and human capital resources needed. As participants reflected on the poverty simulation experience, many left with a deepened understanding of the financial pressures faced by low-income families in meeting basic needs; the difficult choices people with few resources need to make each month when stretching a limited income; the difficulties in improving one’s situation and becoming self-sufficient on a limited income; the emotional stresses and frustrations created by having limited income; as well as the positive and negative impact of the social service system on people with limited resources. 
 

The poverty simulation illustrated that moving out of poverty is never an easy task. In fact, it is often overwhelming and hopeless. For most of the participants, this was just a poverty simulation. They drove their vehicles back to their jobs, families and homes for the night not worrying about whether or not we would have food on the table for dinner. For the more than 815,000 people in South Carolina who live in poverty, this is their daily reality. The poverty simulation reminded us there is much more to each person we encounter every day than their present circumstances. Let us not forget the needs, situations, challenges and struggles families experiencing poverty face. And let us commit to continue with renewed energy to work alongside individuals and families in need. 

Stephanie Cooper-Lewter is the senior director of research for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina