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| Boulder Program Asks Businesses
to Give to Ccommunity |
By Deborah J. Myers, For the
Camera
6/20/01
Dave Gilman is looking for businesses to join the 2 percent
club.
The CEO of First National Bank founded the Business Partners
program with the Community Foundation Serving Boulder
County to promote charitable giving.
Business Partners will recognize companies that donate
2 percent or more of their pre-tax income to charitable
organizations within the community. The donations may
be in the form of direct cash contributions to 501(c)(3)
organizations, in-kind donations or the value of employee
volunteerism.
Qualifying companies will receive a window sticker signifying
them as Business Partners members. "It'll be like
the Chamber of Commerce stickers," said Phoebe Chase,
a representative of the Community Foundation. "We
want to encourage participation and awareness (of charitable
giving)."
The Business Partners will also be honored with an annual
luncheon.
"I thought of the idea a year
ago," said Gilman, who serves on the Community Foundation`s
Board of Trustees. "I'm originally from Minnesota,
and the Greater Minnesota Chamber of Commerce sponsored
the Minnesota Keystone Project. That encourages corporate
philanthropy, and I thought it might be a good idea to
attempt to establish something like that in Boulder County."
By pointing out which businesses give, the Community Foundation
hopes to reward them with more business. This is based
on a survey conducted by the Boulder-based National Research
Center and sponsored by the Community Foundation and the
Scripps Howard Foundation. The results showed that over
two-thirds of those interviewed would choose to do business
with one company over another if they knew that the company
contributed money or services to the Boulder County community.
"People in Boulder County definitely factor in charitable
giving when they decide who to support with their business,"
said Josie Heath, president of the Community Foundation.
"We`d like to be able to recognize those businesses
that are already giving back to the community and encourage
others that aren`t yet to get involved."
Margaret Katz, development officer at the Community Foundation,
hopes that reality matches up with the survey. "We
hope that people will use those businesses and feel good
about businesses that give back to the community."
Katz said. "A lot of businesses give until it hurts,
but we want to encourage more to give. We want (Business
Partners) to be a coveted club to belong to."
The Community Foundation recently mailed 5,000 enrollment
forms to Boulder County businesses to ask what percent
they give toward charities. "We don’t ask for
their income," Gilman said, "or how much they
gave. It’s strictly on an honor system, and there’s
no cost to participate." Katz was unable to estimate
the kind of reply the Community Foundation anticipates.
"Everything comes in at the last minute in Boulder,"
she said.
The businesses were asked to reply by June 15 so that
the Community Foundation can plan for a Recognition Breakfast
on the 21st. Representatives from the businesses and the
organizations they help support will be invited, Chase
said.
Gilman sees a real need for encouraging charitable giving.
"The funding for nonprofit organizations by the government
has declined," he said, "and most nonprofits
find it difficult to get funding." Katz said she
thinks the Boulder County business community could do
more to help. "A lot of people who have moved here
from other areas are struck by how little is asked of
businesses here, with all the economic prosperity,"
she said.
The program’s sponsors are the Daily Camera, First
National Bank of Colorado, the Boulder Economic Council,
Tesser, and The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.
The Boulder County Chamber of Commerce supports the program.
"There are a lot of businesses on the (Pearl Street)
Mall where people come in and ask about the charity they
support," Katz said.
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