As she nears the first anniversary of her hiring, Fairfield County Community Foundation CEO Juanita James shared her thoughts on corporate philanthropy and the nonprofits they help support. James previously led community affairs for Stamford-based Pitney Bowes Inc.
Sum up where things are today as far as corporate capacity for philanthropy and the one or two biggest things you”™ve seen that are at all different since you have come into this role.
“There are two stresses on corporate philanthropy: I think that corporations clearly see the need for it and why it makes sense for them … particularly if they”™re in the space where they”™re dealing directly with customers or in the retail space.
They see the importance of being part of the community, and being part of addressing the needs in the community. They believe that it really distinguishes them, in terms of their leadership role and commitment to the community. I think that may be more obvious for some organizations, for example when you get a company like First County Bank, they have always been committed to the community because they basically are a community bank, and so their corporate philanthropy has been consistent and generous over time.
I think the other thing corporations realize is that this philanthropy also creates a culture within their own organizations of giving back that tends to be a very positive motivator for employee engagement.
I know that we (at Pitney Bowes) would even survey and there was a difference in terms of employees”™ connections to the values of the corporation and their sense of engagement and that our community efforts made a difference in terms of the employees themselves.
So there are so many different business reasons that it makes sense, which is why corporations do it.
That said, I think as corporations have been under more pressure, whether it”™s in respect to their own revenue growth or their earnings and all of those other pieces. That puts more pressure on all aspects of the organization from their operating budgets and then some end up not giving as generously as they have in the past because of that pressure.
I think the one exception to that is GE, which continues to be very generous in their corporate giving, and even when they are going through significant business changes its part of the culture of that organization that they have a steep commitment to corporate philanthropy, and they don”™t just to that locally, they do it globally, and they really appreciate and they sort of stay fast and steady to that value.”
To what degree do you see the youthful corporate employee population taking a leadership role?
“Particularly in some of the younger, more entrepreneurial circles, the hedge funds and people with private capital, is that they really are looking to pool their resources in terms of the social investment. I”™ve been in this business for a long time ”“ where 10 or 20 years ago we might have been very focused on giving grants to (organizations), I think in today”™s world people want not just to give grants, they really want to be more engaged and they want to understand what are the results, what are the outcomes, and they are holding the charitable organizations that provide the direct service to a much higher standard ”¦”
Where in Fairfield County do you see the one philanthropic area of need?
“I would definitely pick education as one ”¦ Early childhood education is clearly an area where you know that if you can do the right interventions and put these people on the right track and get them started out on a level playing field when they enter school, it has tremendous benefit and you”™re not constantly playing catch-up. But I think to only focus on that one area and ignore all of the surrounding aspects of what early childhood is, which means creating the family environment and creating the family support to create the environment for learning, you lose a big part of the success equation ”¦
That”™s why I believe that (when) we try to narrow our focus just to one thing, if you don”™t take into account all of the factors that (go into) a successful child, to educate a child so that they can be successful and to end the cycle of poverty, if you only attack one dimension you”™re not going to have the same level of success.”
What would be No. 2?
“This is absolutely connected ”“ education leads to a skilled workforce. We have to address the employment challenges that we have. Unemployment is having a significant negative impact on our economy, our society. Really trying to identify and map skills and employment opportunities is absolutely critical.”
