 PERSPECTIVE ON THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION
Pittsburgh Remains a City for Living, Giving, Sharing
By Jack Etzel
Kristin DeAngelis
The Pittsburgh Foundation is among the oldest community foundations
in the country. Since its inception in 1945, it has awarded more than
$355 million in grants to charitable organizations in Pittsburgh and
throughout the United States. Individuals, families, businesses and
organizations establish its endowment funds. Those endowments range
from $10,000 to $40 million, created by people with a passion for
Pittsburgh and a commitment to the community. North Hills Monthly
Magazine spoke with the director of development for new funds (and
North Hills resident) Kristin DeAngelis. North Hills Monthly
Magazine: How do you differentiate between a community foundation and
a private foundation?
Kristin DeAngelis: Often times when people hear the word “foundation”
they think of giving programmatic money into the community. What’s
great about what we do, in part, is giving money into the community by
what we call “targeted areas of impact” which has been defined by our
board of directors as being the most pressing needs of Allegheny
County. We use our unrestricted funds to grant money to those areas.
However, there’s a whole other wonderful side. We provide the
infrastructure, the administrative details, for people who want to be
philanthropic, and create funds where they themselves make the grant
recommendations. For example, a “donor-advised” fund is our most
popular type of fund. A donor comes to us to establish a permanent
named endowment. From the income of that, a portion can be used for
grant making. This fund becomes a legacy, and continues in perpetuity.
The individual or family creating these funds decides each year where
they would want these grants to go. There are also considerable tax
advantages. NHMM: You mentioned the unrestricted funds and targeted
areas of impact. What are those areas?
DeAngelis: There are five: health, families and children, economic
development, the arts and education, possibly the most important one
of all. NHMM: Has the economy effected giving?
DeAngelis: No, not really. Sixty new funds were created just last
year. Those new funds, gifts to existing funds, and other gifts
increased our assets to about $645 million. We moved up from being the
17th largest community foundation in the United States to the 16th
largest. NHMM: How do you – in your position – find new donors? How
do you beat those bushes?
DeAngelis: Word of mouth works well for us. The Pittsburgh
Foundation’s reputation precedes itself, and for the most part people
know who we are and what we do, and that we do it very well. Many of
the calls I get come from financial advisors who know us, and make the
connection between their client and the foundation. I would add that
we deal with donors from just about every walk of life. NHMM: What’s
new? What direction are you headed now, compared to past years?
DeAngelis: Our Sports-Outreach initiative is new. We are so excited by
the fact that we are broadening our reach. To be quite candid,
community foundations too often have had a reputation of not reaching
for such a wide audience as we are now. One way is involving
professional athletes. More and more athletes have demonstrated that
they want to give back to the community. What is really good about
this is that it will reach younger people, that is, people who aren’t
professional; for example athletes at the college level. Those younger
ones will see by example and say to themselves, “Hey, that guy is a
hero of mine, and I hope someday I can be like him, not just with
touchdowns or hoops, but I like the way he gives back to the
community.” So, while the professional athletes would be creating the
funds, they also would be reaching the next generation. NHMM: Is
there a problem in the fact that many professional athletes move from
team to team, that is, town to town?
DeAngelis: Not really. A wonderful thing about the Sports-Outreach
initiative is if they have a fund here, they can still make grants
from that fund, in fact, to anywhere else in the country, or more
precisely, anywhere in the world. NHMM: The Pittsburgh market is not
only one of losing population, but it also is growing older as more
young people leave. Is this a way you are trying to get new blood, so
to speak?
DeAngelis: Yes, and to simply educate people to the concept of giving
back in general. Even though we are either number one or two in the
country in being the oldest county, we have an abundance of colleges
and universities in the Pittsburgh area, so we have that great young
population, at least during the academic year, and it’s a great
opportunity to reach those students.
Meanwhile, this is such an enormous fan base. This is such a
sports-minded region. So when Steeler fans see someone like Max Starks
opening up a fund under the Pittsburgh Foundation, I’m sure the first
thing that comes to their mind is, “What’s the Pittsburgh Foundation?”
It’s a way of introducing people who otherwise might not be engaged in
philanthropy in general, especially at a younger age. It increases
awareness. Hopefully, we can create a model which will serve as a
learning tool for other community foundations. Note: For more
information about the Pittsburgh Foundation visit
www.pittsburghfoundation.org or contact 412.391.7259. |
