The Central Ohio community is full of remarkable female executives who have achieved success through education, training, experience, and being strategic and informed decision-makers.
This success — growing, building and leading businesses of all sizes — has also resulted in personal profit, a portion of which is often gifted to charity. Are these same leaders deploying the same intentional discipline they used to build their assets when they make philanthropic contributions?
Leading by example
The Columbus Foundation donor family includes hundreds of women who give generously to strengthen and improve the community. Many of these women have focused strategies from which we can all learn.
Barbara Siemer is one of these smart philanthropists. Siemer, a former teacher, knows firsthand how important school stability is for children. When she learned that there are local schools where 80 percent of all students that start the year in a school don’t complete the year in the same school, she was alarmed — and determined.
Siemer reviewed the research, designed a program to improve stability in schools, and now the Siemer Institute for Family Stability is helping families in more than 50 cities across the country.
Utilizing smart business practices, Siemer identified an opportunity, analyzed the need, created and tested a strategy, and took the program to scale across the country.
She invested her own philanthropic resources, and invited like-minded investors and partners to join her. In each of the communities where the program has been replicated, matching funds and a partner has been required.
Careful analysis, additional investors and scaling the enterprise continue to result in gains nationwide for children and their families.
Things to consider
How can you ensure your philanthropic dollars are going as far as they can?
- Select the right tool. Is your focus on current giving, giving in the future or both? There are many philanthropic tools — from different types of funds, like donor-advised funds, to products like charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts — that can help you make the most of your giving.
- Be informed. There are thousands of nonprofit organizations in our community. But which are high performing? Are there others just getting started that may need support to get going? Where you put your dollars is important. If you aren’t sure, ask for help.
- Plan for your personal or family philanthropic legacy. Just as you would plan for a child’s education or your retirement, think about your ultimate goal for your philanthropy — and plan ahead.
In the business of doing good
Every day at the foundation, we are energized by smart, effective women philanthropists who are making their mark on the charitable world. These philanthropists take the business of contributing money as seriously as they did earning it.
The business of philanthropy affords each of us the opportunity to be as involved as we want to be.
Smart businesswomen work exceptionally hard to earn the privilege to be a philanthropist. Remember, using some of these skills in the role of philanthropist can yield great returns for the community.
Lisa S. Courtice, Ph.D. is the Executive Vice President of Community Research and Grants Management at The Columbus Foundation. Lisa’s responsibilities include overseeing the development and implementation of grant policies, program priorities and areas of strategic grant-making. Prior to joining the foundation, she held leadership positions at Columbus School for Girls, the Childhood League Center, Center for New Directions, Clinic for Child Study and Family Therapy in Akron, Ohio and The Washington Center for Academic Internships in Washington, D.C.
