Armed with college degrees and promising careers, a new generation of philanthropists in Denver isn’t interested in sitting through the black-tie, rubber-chicken galas of yesteryear.
Instead, they hike the Colorado Trail, scramble up a climbing wall at a Central Platte Valley sports emporium or summit one of Colorado’s storied fourteeners to raise money to fight multiple sclerosis and lung disease.
They fund cancer research not by sitting in a stuffy banquet room, stifling yawns as speakers drone on, but by sipping sake and cheering as sweaty sumo wrestlers grapple and tumble.
To generate new audiences for the Central City Opera, for example, they unwind after work at a LoDo hot spot specializing in tapas and martinis.
The idea of putting a fresh, new spin on fundraising is a nationwide phenomenon, and Denver is “really in the mainstream,” says vice president Betsy Mangone of the Denver Foundation’s Philanthropic Services Group.
“Denver isn’t ahead of the curve – but we’re certainly not behind it. We’re right in the flow.”
Donors in their 20s and 30s, she adds, are “much more discriminating” than their parents or grandparents and hold charities to a greater degree of accountability. Which is good, Mangone says, because it “raises the organizations to a higher level of operation.”
These young philanthropists, Mangone continues, aren’t abandoning the causes their grandparents supported. “They want to be a partner … to have a continuing communication with the group and to know the impact their gift will have. They don’t just write a check and that’s it.”
In 1999, saddened and dismayed by the number of friends and family she had lost to cancer, Amy Venturi, a marketing executive with Sander/GBSM, started the Generations Cancer Foundation. It would, she decided, appeal to “a younger generation interested in learning about philanthropy and how to make a difference.”
A six-member governing board was chosen and 60 volunteers – most of whom are 22-40 and range from doctors to stay-at-home moms – were recruited to plan one event a year to raise money for Colorado-based cancer researchers.
The first effort, Sushi, Sake & Sumo, drew 1,400 guests and made $60,000 for AMC Cancer Research Center. To keep the event fresh, subsequent years centered on Blues, Booze & Boxing and Tapas, Tequila & Twister before returning to the original sushi-sake theme for 2005’s fifth-anniversary edition. It was a record-breaker, bringing in $112,000 for the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
“We really do attract the people,” Venturi says, primarily because the parties are fun and the ticket prices low. “This is a fickle generation – if something doesn’t sound interesting from the get-go, you’re not going to get the support.
“We’ve had people tell us we could get a lot more per ticket, but the people we’re after aren’t the ones who can or would pay $10,000 a table. Even with us charging just $50 a person, we’ve raised almost $350,000 to date.”
The way Ryan O’Shaughnessy and 10 of his buddies saw it, they had a choice. They could either sit around, drink beer and talk about the problems that needed solving or they could do something.
Lunching together one afternoon in 2002,
O’Shaughnessy, an investment banker with Petrie Parkman & Co., and Ben Ladd, who spent four years at Green Manning & Bunch before signing on as a fund manager for St. Albans Global Management in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, got serious.
The education they had received in Denver had prepared them well for studies at Harvard, Princeton and other top-flight schools, and they wanted to give thanks in a way that involved more than just writing a check.
Careerwise, they were doing well, but they didn’t have vast reserves on which to draw. They hit on the idea of establishing a fund, treating it as an investment that would appreciate significantly over time.
They ran the idea past other buddies, and within months the Eagle Fund was born and the founders embraced the idea of being able to “give while you’re living.”
Named for the Graland Country Day School mascot (several of the 11 had been friends since their kindergarten days at Graland), the Eagle Fund would be a donor-advised fund of the Denver Foundation. And because the founders were in their 20s, the foundation agreed to waive the minimum $25,000 startup balance required of every other Denver Foundation-administered fund.
“Too often,” O’Shaughnessy writes in the Eagle Fund annual report, “philanthropists do not become involved in nonprofit organizations until their 30s, 40s or even 50s. (We) decided to start early (in order to) grow the Eagle Fund endowment … and be an established presence in the nonprofit community.”
Education is the fund’s focus, with members donating time and capital to programs it supports. The Eagle Fund’s first grant, in 2003, was made to KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, a Denver Public Schools charter school.
The money helped fund a field trip for students to visit Washington, D.C. In addition, fund members partnered with academy fifth-graders to help raise voter awareness on two citywide educational ballot measures, which led to the academy receiving $42 million toward the construction of its new campus.
In addition to O’Shaughnessy and Ladd, other Eagle Fund principals are Brian Abrams, Michael Barkin, Jeremy Barron, Jon-Erik Borgen, Brewster Boyd Jr., Daniel Hamman, Josh Holman, Brian Mankwitz and Jonathan Right.
Mountain States regional chapter of the Anti-Defamation League gave formal acknowledgment of the shift in philanthropic demographics when it began a Passing the Torch Dinner some three years ago.
At this event, tribute is paid to the family elders who instilled charitable virtues in their children and welcomed the young adults as continuing links in the tradition of doing for others.
This year, the three sons and one daughter of Charlie and Diane Gallagher accepted their new responsibilities, as did Debra Herz’s daughter, Sheryl Goodman, and the three living children of Tuskegee Airman John Mosley and his wife, Edna, a past member of the Aurora City Council.
Offspring from several established Denver families have breathed new life into tradition-bound organizations by organizing support groups for others their age. The Denver Zoo, for example, now has its Wild Things Society, which for the past eight years has hosted Brew at the Zoo, a beer, wine and food tasting that raises money for the zoo’s Red Apple Scholarship Fund. The Denver Art Museum’s CultureHaus puts on events with avant-garde flair, and the Diana Price-Fish Cancer Foundation’s Caviar Committee has consistently large crowds at its monthly Late Night parties, where singles mix and mingle over cocktails and music at a restaurant.
Colorado Outward Bound’s black-tie and tennis shoes bash brings out the adventurer in its supporters by letting guests rappel down a climbing wall or whiz from one end of the venue to another on a trip-wire slide. The Webb-Waring Institute has done well with a Halloween costume party and fireside chats hosted by young professionals belonging to the Webb.
Denver Active 20-30 attracts a stylish group for its summer polo match, and the Children’s Museum Birthday Bash does theme parties on the museum grounds that let guests indulge in dress-up fantasies ranging from Elvis to vintage Hollywood.
The youth movement also affects invitations, food and dress. Engraved bids have given way to the ubiquitous e-invite; gone is the tired surf-and-turf special, replaced by such never-before-seen on a banquet menu items as lamb shanks and tuna tartare; and, for the women, frumpy ball gowns are a thing of the past.
Young people, says the Denver Foundation’s Mangone, have “changed the basic face of philanthropy, and that is good. Plus, they’re starting to impact the older generation that is still active in planning events. They’re getting people to open up to new ideas and to get a nice mix of ages doing things together for the common good.
“It’s a healthy situation all around.”
Staff writer Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-820-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
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Guilds/auxiliaries geared
to young philanthropists
Central City Opera
The Camerata, for those up to age 35. A tapas party at a LoDo hot spot got the ball rolling this year. Call Sarah McClean at 303-377-6521 or visit youngcamerata@yahoo.com.
Opera Rocks! For kids 6-17. Call Wendy Cogdal at 303-794-4538.
Rocky Mountain
Multiple Sclerosis Center
MS Young Professionals Network, 170 members, no cost to join.
Events have included the REI Climbing Wall Challenge, a concert at the Soiled Dove and a martini party. Call 303-788-4030, ext. 101, or visit msypn@mscenter.org
Denver Active 20-30
An active, fun-loving group of local businessmen – predominantly male and mostly in their 30s – whose signature event is the Denver Polo Classic at Columbine Polo Club. In its 18 years, it has raised about $1.7 million for children’s charities. Call Lindsey Larson at Primary Objective, 303-860-0384.
National Jewish
Medical and Research Center
The A.I.R. Society, a group of twentysomethings wanting to raise money for the asthma, immune system and respiratory disease programs at National Jewish. Their signature event is Cocktails & Karaoke, which takes place this year on Sept. 10 at Mile High Station. Call 303-398-1897 or e-mail nelsonk@njc.org.
Diana Price-Fish
Cancer Foundation
The Caviar Committee, hosts of the popular Late Night parties at area bars and restaurants. No reservations, no problem. The pay-at-the-door fee, usually $10 or $15, grants admission, one free drink and appetizers.
There’s usually DJ music and always a big crowd. Call 303-639-9110 or visit dpfcf.org.
– Joanne Davidson
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A lineage of hope
Some young philanthropists are following in their parents’ footsteps. Others are the first in their families to step into the world of philanthropy. The tie that binds: a sincere desire to do as much good as possible.
Sarah Anschutz Hunt. The daughter of reclusive billionaire Phil Anschutz helps raise money for the Children’s Museum of Denver (she helped start its wildly successful Birthday Bash fundraisers) along with other younger philanthropists and fundraisers such as Kathy Coors, Mandy Gallagher, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Kelly Director and Lisa Maher. Sarah’s husband, Chris, is on the board of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and they have chaired its spring gala.
Amy Venturi. She is founder of New Generations Cancer Fund. With a six-member board and committee of 60, this marketing whiz from GBSM produces one big (1,500-2,000 guests) event a year to raise research money for the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
Tim Connors. His parents, Ed and Hope, are mainstays of old Denver society, most notably with Denver Botanic Gardens. With his wife, Elsie, Tim has injected new life into the annual art auction that enables the Public Education and Business Coalition to continue groundbreaking work in the state’s public schools.
Natalie Rekstad-Lynn. She grew up in modest circumstances in the East, but this Boulder resident’s love of the arts knows no bounds. When Denver Rotary discontinued its Artists of America show and sale, she stepped in and took the event to the next level by infusing what is now known as Salon d’Arts with programs and a gala sale that appealed to young, enthusiastic collectors. Beneficiaries are reviewed every year, but have included Colorado Ballet, Colorado UpLIFT and the Webb-Waring Institute.
Brothers Joseph and Matthew McConaty. When Joe, 24, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003, his first thought wasn’t “Poor me,” but “What can I do to help find a cure?” This summer, the avid outdoorsman, along with brother Matthew and five of their lifelong friends hiked the Colorado Trail in an effort to raise $250,000 for researchers at the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center. Their team, CT4MS, completed the 471-mile walk on Aug. 20.
Ann Benson Reidy. Her father is GOP powerhouse Bruce Benson, and her mom, Nancy Lake Benson, is an invaluable resource for the Denver Art Museum. Ann shares her mother’s interest in the arts, serving on the Louis Comfort Tiffany Design Lecture Series committee, and as a volunteer curator for Salon d’Arts. She also gives considerable time and effort to the Denver Public Library, chairing its Booklover’s Ball junior patron committee, and the Art Students League of Denver, serving on its show and sale committee.
Kimi Porterfield. Following an example set by her grandmother, Florence Ruston, Kimi is active in organizations ranging from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to the Colorado Symphony.
