A session at the recent Florida Philanthropic Network conference in Orlando.
We attended our first Florida Philanthropic Network conference recently in Orlando.
It was an enlightening experience.
Several hundred of the state’s top philanthropic leaders got together for three days of education, fellowship and networking.
As the executive director of a relatively new foundation, the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation, I found the conference invaluable in terms of learning and meeting people with deep experience in the field.
I’m learning that there is a lot to the practice of philanthropy. There’s a lot of rules relative to giving, there’s also a lot of ways to measure impact, AI is beginning to influence the field and there is an emerging trend called venture philanthropy that’s fascinating.
When I tell people what I’m doing these days, they often say “wow, it must be fun to give money to good causes” and it is. It’s very gratifying but philanthropy is much more than writing checks to causes that touch your heart.
Yes, philanthropy is different from charity.
We don’t just write checks, although there is nothing wrong with that. As a philanthropy, we hope to make change.
As a result, we are making strategic investments in nonprofits that we believe can transform our areas of interest.
In our case, our “pillars” are health and nutrition, civic innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship and faith-based initiatives.
We created those areas of interest in concert with Mr. DeSantis to reflect his passions.
Our goal is to support people and organizations that have the potential to transform communities.
There is an art and science to the work we do. Philanthropy looks at data, financials and leadership capacity to determine whether it makes sense to make an investment.
Like venture capitalists and business investors, we seek a return on that investment in the form of change and results. But philanthropy exists to take risks as well. In fact, philanthropy takes risks and makes investments where others fear to tread. That’s what makes the sector so important. Philanthropy writes the checks that others won’t in order to invest in our collective future.
To date we have made 35 investments totaling $5.855 million. We’ve only just begun. Here’s a small sample of where we’re invested.
We are investing in entrepreneurs through 1909, a remarkable West Palm Beach based incubator/accelerator. We are giving our children a shot a future through nonprofits such as Bound for College, Take Stock in Children and the George Snow Scholarship Fund. We are partners with Her Second Chance giving women in recovery a new lease on life and we are proud of our work with 4Kids and the Achievement Center For Children and Families two organizations devoted to caring for children who need support.
We are working with the Mayo Clinic, FAU and Max Planck on research programs that we hope will uncover answers for Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders.
And there’s more.
We are by invitation only so we can be strategic and selective. But every investment we make has our founder’s ethos and spirit in mind. When I think back at how it all started for me, I just marvel at how fortunate I was to cross paths with such a remarkable man.
Twenty years ago, I walked across a ballroom at a charity event to introduce myself to Mr. DeSantis. We exchanged pleasantries for less than a minute and I didn’t hear from him for a few years until he asked to get together and talk about how I might help him with a new beverage he was excited about called Celsius.
Last week, that little brand Carl was talking about announced sales of over $1 billion. It all started in a small office on 4th Avenue in Delray Beach.
Carl was a believer back then. He saw the path, even when others thought we were crazy.
We were. But in Carl’s case there was genius, belief and courage too.
It paid off.
Last week, that little challenger brand which is now the number three energy drink in the land bought the number four brand Alani Nu for $1.8 billion.
Amazing. And somehow Mr. DeSantis knew. He knew.
Before he passed, Carl asked a colleague of mine and me to sit down and help him create a foundation that would give back to the community in perpetuity. We did. It’s the proudest work I’ve ever done. It not only brings me back full circle to community service it keeps me close to Carl and his terrific family.
I’m honored to do this work. Blessed too.
These thoughts ran through my head at the conference surrounded by people doing transformative work in a world that desperately needs healing.
I’m determined to learn as much as I can so we can make a difference knowing that somehow Carl is watching it all unfold.
