By Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News
April 6, 2008
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/316561.html
As a Cheektowaga resident for many years, Gary Kadow supported the Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross and area arts organizations such as MusicalFare Theater.
But when Kadow moved to Florida in 2005, he found other charitable outlets for his time and money, including Rotary Club fundraisers for education and the local Red Cross chapter.
Kadow, 61, doesn't hear much from the Buffalo groups he used to support, and even if he did, he doubts he would send money back North.
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| You have an obligation to the community you live in. Gary Kadow, former Cheektowaga resident, on donating to Florida charities |
"You have an obligation to the community you live in," said Kadow, a retired administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Besides, he added, "I think the need is much greater where I am."
Western New York's arts and cultural groups, human service agencies and educational institutions rely more than ever on charitable dollars to steer them through the fiscal realities of a shrinking regional economy.
But some of the area's oldest and best-known nonprofit organizations are discovering some of their steadiest support eroding, as longtime residents relocate to new communities in warmer climates.
The effect is felt in places such as Albright-Knox Art Gallery, which sold off millions of dollars of antiquities last year so it could afford the purchase of contemporary art. Gallery directors cited the area's "small philanthropic community" in making the controversial sale of dozens of valuable works.
Studio Arena Theatre, drowning in debt, declared bankruptcy in February and shut down its season early, pointing to the loss of important "high net worth" donors as one of the reasons for its demise.
Meanwhile, the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County failed earlier last week to meet its $15.4 million fundraising goal for 2008, which will likely mean budget cuts for area human service agencies. The organization's base of donors has fallen from 91,241 people in 2003 to 62,171 this year.
Catholic Charities, too, remained well short of its $11.2 million target weeks after the annual appeal was supposed to wrap up. The Rev. Joseph Sicari, director of Catholic Charities, said he isn't sure how much of the agency's recent struggles is due to the flight of former givers to warmer climates.
But he acknowledged that at least 60 percent of Catholic Charities donors are 60 and older, and the agency has its work cut out in trying to connect with younger people.
"We have to grow those new donors," he said. "Our challenge is to get that younger generation hooked in."
Home-grown habits
Several agencies are stepping up their efforts to keep in touch with former Western New Yorkers who were loyal donors, but fundraisers said that is often an uphill battle because people become entrenched in their adopted communities.
"We gave them all their training, all their values. We taught them how to donate, and now they're going someplace else," Sicari said. "They still care about the community [here], and they know about the struggles we have."
Nonetheless, he added, "They're not just going to sit at home when they move; they're going to get involved."
Nancy Blaschak, executive director of the Greater Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross, said she sometimes jokes with colleagues at Red Cross chapters in warmer parts of the country.
"We always say we should get a percentage of what you guys get, because we did all the work," said Blaschak, referring to the cultivation of donors in Western New York who now support Red Cross chapters elsewhere. "Those guys are the ones that reap the benefits."
National studies suggest that people are likeliest to give the most during their 40s and older, when their earning power usually is highest. And the group most likely to donate is those 65 and older, more than three-quarters of whom said they gave when surveyed in a Center on Philanthropy panel study of U.S. households.
The average amount of giving was $2,343 and represented more than 5 percent of their incomes, according the study by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
In 2000, Erie and Niagara counties had nearly a quarter fewer people between ages 20 and 34 than in 1990, causing many observers to bemoan what is commonly referred to as a "brain drain."
Reaching out
But just behind in the rate of departure over the decade were people ages 60 to 64, a population that fell by 22.5 percent, according to U.S. census figures.
Many ended up in places like Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
So when Mike and Cath Pierowicz left West Seneca five years ago for Las Vegas, organizations such as their parish, Resurrection Catholic Church in Cheektowaga, and Catholic Charities ended up losing out — not just now, but in the future.
"We pretty much support the church out here," said Cath Pierowicz, 53.
The Diocese of Las Vegas, she said, has sent out letters to Catholics requesting contributions to help meet the needs of a rapidly expanding Catholic presence in Nevada.
"They're making pleas to the people to buy land for future churches," she said.
In central Florida, Kadow says he sees even greater poverty than he saw in Western New York and feels compelled to address it.
"We have the poor of the poor down here in some sections," he said.
Blaschak of the Red Cross recently had a conversation with a major donor from Western New York who still spends some time here but now has residency in Florida, which unlike New York does not have an income tax.
Blaschak said she was asking for the donor to increase his gift. He was reluctant, fearing that his residency status in Florida might be questioned if he gave even more to a New York organization.
New York tax auditors are not supposed to consider charitable giving when determining where an individual lives, but some estate planners warn clients against making contributions in their former home state. Some nonprofit executives also say that once people leave the area, even if they spent the bulk of their life here, the risk of losing future bequests also goes up.
Bonds to the Buffalo Niagara region are hard to break, though.
Peter Fleischmann, executive director of the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies, which raises funds for many area Jewish organizations, visits Florida a few times a year to meet with snowbirds and former Western New Yorkers.
Luncheons in Palm Beach and Sarasota started out about a decade ago drawing 12 to 15 people; they now attract 40 to 50, he said.
"All of them continue to give up North. They clearly are not walking away from our community," he said.
Their giving usually ends up being less concentrated on Western New York.
Ultimately, though, Fleischmann hopes that by maintaining a connection with these givers, they will remember Buffalo-area organizations in their wills.
"It's certainly the case that we see their philanthropy being extended to other causes in their adopted communities. That definitely affects us," Fleischmann said. "That adds impetus to our agencies to plan to really shore up and insure that their infrastructure will be able to function and be viable in an environment with more limited philanthropic dollars."
While organizations say they won't give up on trying to stay in contact with longtime donors who move elsewhere, many of them also point out that they need to focus better on younger contributors, and potential contributors, in their backyard.
New givers needed
Amid all of the depressing statistics of the last few campaigns, Arlene Kaukus, United Way's president, finds hope in the growth of its "Emerging Leaders" category of givers — some 400 people under age 40 who give $1,000 or more per year.
Just five years ago, the United Way did virtually nothing to foster bigger gifts from younger contributors.
"We have to have a relationship with every donor," Kaukus said.
Contact: jtokasz@buffnews.com
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