Come learn from your fellow SDG corporate grantmakers!

Undoubtedly one of the most important benefits of SDG membership is the ability to tap the collective knowledge of our corporate philanthropy peers.  We want to help you make the most of this opportunity, which is why we're spearheading a new Corporate Learning Community at SDG.

Mark Your Calendars! First Meeting April 12, 12-2PM

It's All About You!

The Corporate Learning Community will be a series of informal gatherings, with the topics, frequency, and format to be created and agreed upon by you!

On April 12, we will talk over lunch about what we all need to help us do our jobs better and create a new, more peer-driven way for SDG to serve as the hub of our very powerful corporate giving knowledge network.  This is different from previous approaches to SDG programming because it will be designed by you and powered by you.

Depending on how things go, it might even lead to sub-groups based on issues of mutual interest.  And of course, there will be some fun food to help get the conversations rolling! 

• Want to learn about others' experiences with employee volunteer or matching programs?
• Want to explore how other members are supporting the same community needs that you are?
• Looking for how to measure your impact or the recognition your company receives for its philanthropic work?
• Prefer to meet to vent over wine rather than coffee a few times a year?

Feel free to bring these or ANY OTHER ideas to the table during our first meeting on April 12 at the SDG office.

We hope to see you then, when we will begin to lay the groundwork for this ongoing, fun and fruitful peer-to-peer learning experience!

Respectfully,

The Corporate Learning Community is just one way to engage with your fellow grantmakers through SDG.  Here are some others:

• Twitter: @SDGrantmakers is our handle.  We just LOVE tweeting about our members' good work, events, grant opportunities, etc., so send us a tweet or follow us so we can help spread the news! 
• LinkedIn: SDG has a  LinkedIn company page, which we also use to immediately share news about our members and important resources.  You can also join our  LinkedIn Corporate Philanthropy Professionals group for local funders to share ideas or questions when face-to-face isn't possible.  (Don't worry, you can customize your group settings in LinkedIn so that your inbox isn't inundated with emails every time someone starts a discussion.)
• Facebook: SDG is re-vamping our Facebook page -- another way we connect grantmakers, help publicize members' stories, and share timely resources.  Stay tuned for a friend request from us! 
• www.sdgrantmakers.org: Post your events to our online calendar (log in to do it yourself or simply email us ) or connect with other members using our  Member Directory.
• Listservs: You can quickly send an email to all members (members@sdgrantmakers.org) or all corporate members (ccr@sdgrantmakers.org).  There are more listservs organized by giving areas and member collaborations too. 

SDG Education Funders Consultant 

San Diego Grantmakers is currently seeking an Education Funders consultant.  The primary objective is to understand the lay of the land in education improvement efforts throughout the county -- from cradle to career -- and to catalyze coordinated philanthropic support in a way that contributes to significant coordination among education initiatives and organizations that enable student achievement.  Please download the official Request for Qualifications for more details about the position.  The deadline to respond is March 23, 2012.

JPMorgan Chase Region Executive, Global Philanthropy (Los Angeles, CA)
JPMorgan Chase Global Philanthropy is seeking a Region Executive for the West Region. This position will be based in California and reports to the President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.  Read more about this position and how to apply.

Mark your calendars!

San Diego Mayoral Candidate Forum: Issues of Importance to the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector
March 26, 2012, 7:00PM-9:00PM

The City of San Diego will welcome a new mayor in 2013, marking a new era for the city.  How will the next mayor support the efforts of our philanthropic and nonprofit sectors?  VoiceofSanDiego.org's Scott Lewis and KPBS's Gloria Penner will moderate a forum with San Diego Mayoral candidates on issues of critical importance to philanthropy and nonprofits.

Sponsors*:

Promotional Partners*:

Foundation for Change		San Diego Housing Federation
San Diego River Park Foundation	San Diego Women's Foundation	Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN)
UCSD Extension

*We welcome additional sponsors and partners.  If you're interested, please contact SDG Executive Director Nancy Jamison at (858) 875-3335 or nancy@sdgrantmakers.org.

This candidate forum is being coordinated by the following organizations: Nonprofit Management Solutions, San Diego Association of Nonprofits (SANDAN), San Diego Grantmakers, San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition, San Diego River Park Foundation, The Old Globe, and University of San Diego, Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research.

Corporate Philanthropy Resources

Providing product instead of dollars just as good
The Business Case for Product Philanthropy, a report from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, argues that donating unwanted inventory to charity is not only good business practice, it's an effective corporate social responsibility strategy.

Employee engagement and CSR for generation Twitter
With so much information available at any given moment, reaching employees might be easier but engaging them has become a bigger challenge.  This Forbes article provides some resources for companies to utilize social media for their employee communications.  

U.S. Chamber of Commerce map shows the good things companies are doing worldwide
Check out the "Business for Good Map" to see what philanthropic endeavors San Diego companies are doing!

Top 10 trends in CSR for 2012
Here are the biggest developments to watch for this year in the ever growing and changing world of corporate social responsibility.  

Worth the Read

Opinions & Insight about Corporate Philanthropy

International Corporate Philanthropy Day  

Monday, February 27 was International Corporate Philanthropy Day (#ICPD on Twitter).  ICPD was a day for the business community to celebrate and be recognized for its achievements in corporate philanthropy, build awareness of the benefits of corporate community investment, and inspire companies around the world to engage further in giving initiatives.  SDG celebrated by spreading the word about the work of some of our corporate members, though I'm sure there's a lot that we missed!  Tell us about your work so we can spread the word all year long.  The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) compiled an interesting list of what some businesses did to celebrate.

Corporate giving program vs. corporate foundation
Thhe Council on Foundations has created a chart providing the key considerations of both.   

Giving in Numbers report to be strengthened by collaboration
The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) and The Conference Board are joining forces to promote one survey to capture the full scope and scale of annual contributions by leading global companies.  This association will further strengthen the repository of giving data, building upon the more than $85 billion in corporate cash and non-cash giving collected by CECP since 2001.  In case you haven't seen it, here's the Giving in Numbers: 2011 report.  

U.S. Investors Lack Interest in Companies Doing Good
Top U.S. chief executives suggested the creation of a social responsibility index of companies that would help educate shareholders on the value of philanthropy during a recent Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy conference.  But how important, really, is shareholder buy-in to corporate philanthropy?  Steve Denning argues that companies should be more concerned with their customers in this Forbes article. 

Banks' Philanthropy Needs Greater Oversight, Says Watchdog
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy offers guidelines for regulators to use in assessing mergers of financial institutions.

Clinton's vision to align business and philanthropy
Former President Bill Clinton recently offered a full-throated endorsement of capitalism's capacity to solve the world's problems in the Financial Times.  

What is a B Corp? 

Ansir Innovation Center, San Diego  

WEBINAR: Corporate Disaster Relief -- How to Maximize Your Efforts 

EF 2012 Corporate Citizenship Conference: "Corporate Social Impact" 

San Jose, CA   

Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals 2012 Annual Conference

March 18-21, 2012

Orlando, FL

Conference sold out, but interested parties may join a waiting list.