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Charitable Foundations Make Bay Area Better

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 18, 2007

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TAMPA - Signs of generosity abound in the Tampa Bay area.

Visitors to cultural centers filter into buildings with wings bearing the names of those who have donated millions to furthering the arts.

Students who otherwise might not be able to afford college are able to go on scholarship.

Patients have access to lifesaving medical equipment purchased with donated money.

From backpacks for foster children to new exhibits at museums, from promoting the art of ethnic ballet to financing snake research, the more than 160 foundations in Hillsborough County contribute about $70 million annually — a number that has grown in recent years and is expected to continue an upward trend.

These contributions knit the fabric of the community, helping make Hillsborough a place where you can take a dance class at the Patel Conservatory, go to college on a scholarship from the Bailey Family Foundation or get nose-to-nose with an 18-foot-tall giraffe at Lowry Park Zoo.

Some of the donations are made with much fanfare. The Glazer Family Foundation — the Glazers own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — recently held a news conference to announce a $5 million donation to the new Children's Museum. The museum will be called the Glazer Children's Museum. Foundation officials handed reporters slick media packets, full of information about the project.

A day later, Lightning hockey player Vincent Lecavalier announced a $3 million donation to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

The bulk of foundations, though, operate quietly. Many residents don't even know they exist. They go about their business, giving a few thousand dollars here, a million dollars there.

"We hold no functions, no dinners," said Ron Bailey, whose foundation awards college scholarships. "I do no marketing. I feel I don't even need a thank-you from the students."

'We Have A Responsibility'

Those behind the foundations cite a common theme of wanting to give back to the community, but the reasons behind their gifts are as unique as the donors themselves.

Take Ron Bailey for example. Bailey is the man behind the one of the largest foundations in Hillsborough County.

Bailey made his wealth at Strayer University in Washington, D.C., eventually buying the college.
He was struck with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an illness that affects the nervous system. The disease temporarily paralyzed him, and he was hospitalized at Tampa General for three months.

"I said to myself, 'If I don't die, I want to spend the rest of my life doing good,' " he recalled. "I wasn't going to go flying all over the world."

He sold his stake in Strayer, formed the Bailey Family Foundation, and now gives $20,000 scholarships to one student annually from each high school in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk counties.

"In my opinion, there's no better use of the money," he said.

Maria Brachowicz, 21, is a recipient of a Bailey scholarship. Originally from Brazil, she attends the University of South Florida, where she is studying biomedical sciences. Her mom can't find a job, and the family couldn't afford to send Brachowicz to college without help. The foundation has paid her tuition for four years, she said.

"If it wasn't for Bailey, I would probably be working," she said. "Then it's kind of hard to go back on track to university."

Bailey Family Foundation assets reached about $52 million in 2005. Donations hovered near $2 million.

Perhaps better-known in Tampa are the Shimbergs. The family, which made its money in real estate development, gives primarily to USF, arts and medical causes. Family members also put muscle behind their dollars: Elaine Shimberg is a former chairwoman of St. Joseph's Hospital. Husband Hinks is a former chairman of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Both remain involved.

"We were fortunate enough to do well in this community," Hinks Shimberg said. "We have a responsibility to give back to the community."

The Shimberg Foundation reported $1.1 million in assets in 2005 and $152,000 in giving. It's not the largest foundation in Hillsborough, but its generosity has been recognized at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center — home of the Shimberg Playhouse.

Then there are the quirky foundations, such as the North American Snake Institute, with assets totaling about $80,000 in 2005. John Rossi wasn't allowed to have cats or dogs as a child because his mother was allergic, but he was allowed to have reptiles. Now a veterinarian, Rossi's foundation has helped finance research on snakes and turtles.

He plans to donate the remaining money in the foundation to graduate students doing research on reptiles.

Growth In The South

Foundations are entities that are established as nonprofit corporations or charitable trusts, whose main purpose is making grants to unrelated organizations, according to the New York-based Foundation Center.

In the late 1800s and into the first half of the 20th century, foundations were predominately based in the Northeast and Midwest, centers of urban development. As families such as the Carnegies and the Rockefellers made their money in industry, they established foundations.

Foundations were slower to form in the Southeast, said Martin Lehfeldt, president of the Atlanta-based Southeastern Council of Foundations. But since World War II, as the South has become more developed, foundations have grown.

The South has seen the fastest growth rate in terms of number of foundations and assets in the previous year, according to a 2007 report from the Foundation Center.
Florida is out front, Lehfeldt said, with more foundations than any other state in the Southeast.

"It simply reflects where the money has been made," he said.

According to the most recent state data available, Florida had 3,739 foundations in 2005 with assets approaching $17 billion. Giving reached $1 billion. The number of foundations has more than doubled since 1997, according to Foundation Center data.

In the Tampa metropolitan area, which includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater, there are 327 foundations with $882 million in assets. They gave away $83 million in 2005.

Charitable giving has increased in the Tampa area in the past 50 years. As the region matured, the need for philanthropy grew. People's expectations have increased, and charitable giving has helped support cultural and other advances.

Wealth in the area has grown, too, said David Straz, who runs one of the largest foundations in Hillsborough County — the David A. Straz Jr. Foundation. That has enabled people to give more money.

David Fischer said that in 1960 he could count on one hand the number of big donors in the community. Mostly, they were large corporations, such as phone companies, power companies and banks.

Now the base is broader, said Fischer, president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

"People have done very well, and they're willing to give," he said.

The Community Foundation is a pool of sorts for those that have somewhat small endowment funds but want to be able to tap into the same expertise available to bigger foundations. The Community Foundation invests the money for them and recommends where the money could go.

The Community Foundation had $148 million in assets last year and granted about $10.1 million, Fischer said. A decade ago, the foundation had $27.5 million in assets and made $4.6 million in grants.
The Community Foundation helps fund The Florida Orchestra, United Way, The Children's Home and many other organizations.

Filling A Gap

For the organizations in the Tampa Bay area, money from foundations generally represents a sliver of their overall budgets.

But the money — even an extra few thousand dollars — can go a long way.

The Eckerd Family Foundation, based in Pinellas County, gave money to the Hillsborough Education Foundation to help fund a scholarship program for students in career center schools.

"There's just no way we'd be able to pilot that without that foundation stepping in and funding the project," said Bill Hoffman, president of the education foundation.

Paula Perry, a spokeswoman for Hillsborough Kids Inc., said money received from individual donors, organizations and foundations enables the group to provide new backpacks and school supplies for children in foster care. The money also helps fund a holiday drive so children can receive gifts during the holiday season, as well as monthly birthday celebrations for children in foster care.

Money from private sources picks up where state and federal dollars leave off.

In the case of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 80 percent of its $45 million budget comes from ticket sales, and less than 20 percent comes from public, corporate and private donations.

But those dollars help keep ticket prices and room rental rates lower, said Judy Lisi, the center's president. For example, renting space for an event could cost as much as $10,000 a night. Because of private subsidies, rental rates are generally about $2,000.

A theme resounds when talking to people about the role of foundations in society: Government can do only so much.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said governments tend to fund only a basic level of services; foundations and private money take those services to the next level.

"They build and sustain amenities in the community that government can't sustain," Iorio said.

With governments reducing services as residents demand lower tax bills, expect the role of foundations to grow, and not just on a program-specific basis. Foundations likely will be asked to help finance immigration, aging and environmental initiatives, some of the biggest issues nationally, Lehfeldt said.

"All of them are going to be calling on foundations for more giving," Lehfeldt said. "We need every dollar we can get. One of the greatest mistakes is to assume that foundation resources could ever replace the gaps created by cutbacks in public spending."

Still, giving is expected to increase.

Parents of baby boomers and boomers themselves have accumulated enormous assets. Now they are passing on their wealth, and many are establishing foundations to do so.

And the wealth accumulated by foundations is expected to grow. Students will still need scholarships, hospitals will still need more money for technology, and governments will still need all the help they can get.

The role of foundations — filling in where the public sector leaves off — will continue to grow, further shaping the Tampa Bay area.

"You see the way municipalities are cutting back everything," Straz said. "The zoo wouldn't be as good as it is. University of Tampa wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is."

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

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