I received the booklet “The Needmor Fund: 50 Years, 50 Stories” from The Needmor Fund in the mail today, sent to me courtesy of Changemakers. I’ve met some of the people at Needmor, including a few Stranahan family members and one or two staff, at various philanthropy events. Frank Sanchez, now Senior Program Officer, is one of those vibrant people you don’t forget. I’ve always been drawn to The Needmor Fund as one of the earliest adopters of mission-aligned investing (or “values congruent investing,” as one family member describes it), although their primary mission is to promote and fund community organizing.
I can’t recommend this report highly enough–it is absolutely engaging and inspirational. It tells, through the family’s own words captured at a recent meeting, the authentic story of their evolution and growth as a philanthropic family. Sarah Stranahan shares a few stories that describe how the family came to community investing, proxy voting and shareholder activism as they struggled to keep their financial investments in line with the values expressed through their grantmaking.
I wanted to excerpt one passage, though, that shows the power of the philanthropic family across generations. The speaker is Abby, “Abbot Stranahan, daughter to Steven and Ann, former Board Chair and active board member.”
“They Told Us About the Heroes”
“I grew up with Needmor from the age when I could come to the table, or at least come to the meeting. The key was that I always felt invited to the table, even when I was too young to contribute. There was a very nice open door. It was enticing to cross the threshold because generally my Uncle Mike would bring a big bag of art supplies and little toys that occupied us. So, even if I was making paper airplanes under the table, I still felt like I was part of the group. Equally important, I felt like a part of the family.
“It was a strong pull to come to that gathering of aunts and uncles and cousins who were all much more exciting than I was. At that age, everyone was sort of a superstar. I thought it was the coolest place to be. When I was old enough to sit still and listen it became a wonderful story-telling hour as these incredibly cool people told gripping tales of driving down the icy streets of Appalachia and going into the church basement and listening to the dramatic David and Goliath story. They spoke about the heroes that they had met along the way, and the food they had eaten to celebrate the union of the relationship. The stories had “people power” that resonated with the character of my family. So that was my baptism with Needmor. It was the early formation of the fund. It was coming together at a time when individual families might have been falling apart. Needmor pulled the family together, dancing to Zorba the Greek with my aunts and uncles on the table tops. There was a celebratory feel to it.”
If you want a copy of this report (and I think you do), it seems you have to go through Changemakers. I can’t find an electronic version on the web. Here’s the link to the Changemakers instructions on how to order the report.
Tags: Changemakers, family, family philanthropy, Needmor Fund
June 5, 2009 at 9:56 pm |
would like to hook up with Sarah again. K from Oly