New! Online Forum for Corporate Philanthropy Professionals

Did you know that SDG is now actively using LinkedIn and Twitter to share and learn about the latest philanthropic resources, tools, and member news?  If you're already on these social media sites, great!  Follow us on Twitter at @SDGrantmakers and on our San Diego Grantmakers LinkedIn company page.

Not yet engaging with others in this way?  You may want to start!  In addition to sharing/acquiring information practically immediately, social media can help you connect with colleagues and across sectors with key players in the causes you care about.  Here's a great article about how to use LinkedIn.  And don't worry about being inundated with even more emails as a result; most of these sites let you control the frequency of communications about their activity in your account profile.

Special Group for Coporate Philanthropy Professionals 

SDG has created the Corporate Philanthropy Professionals "group" on LinkedIn to serve as a private online forum for corporate foundation and giving program professionals to ask questions of one another, discuss common issues of interest, promote their work, share insights, job opportunities...you get the picture.  This group is open to all SDG members who work in corporate philanthropy!

To join the Corporate Philanthropy Professionals group, follow this link and sign in using your LinkedIn account information.  Let's get the conversations started!

The San Diego Business Journal's (SDBJ) annual Corporate Philanthropy Special Report was published the week of November 28, and features submissions by SDG Executive Director Nancy Jamison as well as SDG member United Way of San Diego County.  Those who subscribe to SDBJ can view the entire report online.

Mark your calendars!

WEBINAR: How Will the Federal Budget Impact the Poor?
Dec. 7, 2011, 11:00AM-12:00PM

The failure of the "Supercommittee" to produce a plan will result in painful automatic spending cuts in 2013, which advocates and service providers predict will cause more pain for low-income and vulnerable citizens.  This webinar for funders will:

• Provide an overview of the $1.2 trillion automatic spending cuts that will be imposed;
• Outline the next steps and possible outcomes in the legislative process;
• Offer insight into how these decisions will effect programs and policies focused on the poor and vulnerable; and
• Discuss the role of philanthropy, key levers to address the challenges and guidance about what to watch moving forward.

San Diego Grantmakers Year-End Open House
Dec. 13, 2011, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
SDG Office
It's hard to believe that 2011 is nearly over!  You have accomplished a lot this year, and we'd like to invite you to an informal open house here at the SDG office to celebrate your successes, reflect on your not-quite-successes, and look ahead to next year.  We'll be celebrating the season in true Southern California style - with tacos and beverages from one of our award-winning local breweries.  Mostly this is an opportunity to get what you've told us you want: the chance to chat with you grantmaker peers.

Funders Briefing on Citizenship
Dec. 14, 2011, 11:30AM-1:30PM
SDG Office
In partnership with Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR), The California Endowment, Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr Fund, and San Diego County Bar Foundation, SDG invites you to join your grantmaking colleagues for a lunchtime meeting to learn more about a new national citizenship initiative and how you can be involved if it fits with your grantmaking strategy.

GEO Two-Day "Engage for Results" Seminar Coming to San Diego!
Jan.  10-11, 2012
SDG Office
San Diego Grantmakers is pleased to partner with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) and the Interaction Institute for Social Change when they come to San Diego for the highly-rated, two-day seminar Engage for Results: Involving Grantees & Other Stakeholders in your Grantmaking Strategies.

Corporate Philanthropy Resources

Creating Shared Value: A How-to Guide for the New Corporate (R)evolution
This FSG Social Impact Advisors report identifies ten key building blocks that together form a blueprint for translating Creating Shared Value (CSV) into action, and explores how companies can get started on that process.  This CSV concept was one of the strategies explored by FSG partner Mark Kramer during this year's SDG Annual Conference.

• Making the case for creating shared value
  Jessica Hubbard, a director of Corporate Social Responsibility at an education company, shares her top-ten list for making the case for CSV.

Corporate donations expected to remain flat
Companies do not expect to increase their giving in 2011, according to a new survey from the Conference Board, a business membership group.

CECP Giving in Numbers report
The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) released its annual Giving in Numbers report, based on data from 184 companies (including 63 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500).

Nine sites that measure companies' social responsibility
Applications that measure the corporate social responsibility take many forms.  Here are nine that stand out among the rest.

Technology tools for corporate grantmakers
In October, Northern California Grantmakers corporate members met over lunch to dig into a thorny topic: finding the best technology tools to support the work of corporate giving.  Here are some highlights from that meeting.

Disaster response toolkit for businesses
This toolkit developed by EF (formerly Entrepreneurs Foundation) is intended to guide corporations of any size in establishing a disaster response plan that reflects the values of that corporation and is aligned with the strengths of the business.

• On her Non-Profit Marketing blog, Katya Andresen shares some advice from a new Network for Good eGuide on how corporations can best support nonprofits in times of crisis and natural disasters.

Worth the Read

Conversations about Corporate Philanthropy

High-tech and high-touch ways to share business skills 

Stephen Jordan, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce B founder and executive director, discusses two products -- one that helps share where businesses are giving, Business for Good Map, and another that creates a mechanism to help business professionals deploy their talents to build up small business and non-profit capabilities in emerging markets, International Business Corps.

JPMorgan Chase launches Facebook campaign
SDG member JPMorgan Chase launched the fourth round of its community giving program on Facebook on November 8.

CSR metrics

This blog post from True Impact, a consulting firm that helps organizations maximize and measure the social and business value of their operating practices, explores which volunteer and pro bono activities develop skills with quantifiable business value.

This article from Forbes.com discusses how companies, armed with the social web and cloud computing among other tools, are better poised than ever to effectively engage and galvanize their employees into cause-related action, while serving their over-arching goals for corporate social responsibility.

Top corporate donors ranked
Kroger, the Cincinnati supermarket chain, deserves to be considered one of America's most charitable companies, Forbes declares in an article based on The Chronicle of Philanthropy's corporate-giving survey.  They gave away 10.9 percent of their $589 million in 2009 pre-tax profits ($64 million).

Tips to help companies do the most good
This recent article in USA Today offers up some quick tips for corporate philanthropy.

Council on Foundations' Corporate Philanthropy 2012 initiative

Dinah Dittman, national director of community engagement and philanthropy for Kaiser Permanente and chair of the Council On Foundations' Corporate Committee, is the most recent to contribute to a series of blogs about the Corporate Philanthropy 2012 initiative, a program created to recommend ways corporate philanthropy and foundations can respond most effectively to global social needs and challenges.

Calif. latest state to approve socially focused 'benefit corporations'
California has become the latest state to legalize corporations that build social purpose into their businesses and allow them to put social goals ahead of profits, writes The New York Times.

WEBINAR: Bottom of the Pyramid & CSR
Dec. 7, 2011, 9:00AM-10:00AM

WEBINAR: Catalyzing Change -- Stories from Bold Donors Who Drive Real Results
Dec. 7, 2011, 9:00AM-10:00AM
This FREE webinar from FSG Social Impact Consultants is similar to "Act II" of the SDG Annual Conference last month; participants will hear from a panel of donors who are implementing some of recommended practices contained in Do More Than Give, including past SDG Board Chair and Jacobs Family Foundation Board Member Valerie Jacobs!

State of Nonprofits Quarterly Index: Kick-Off Symposium and Mixer
Dec. 8, 2011
University of San Diego, Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

WEBINAR: Corporate Philanthropy 2012 -- Charting the Future of Corporate Foundations in the 21st Century
Dec. 14, 2011, 11:00AM-12:00PM

A Conversation with San Diego About Education
Dec. 14, 2011, 5:30PM-7:00PM
University of San Diego, Shiley Theatre