Philanthropy
From Sustaining Jackson Hole Wiki
I. Overview of Philanthropy in Jackson Hole
Jackson Hole seems to have a strong culture of philanthropy.
On both the giving and receiving sides – in ways ranging from the number of local non-profits to the amount of time and money given by locals to charities and political campaigns – Teton County residents recognize the importance of the non-profit sector, and support it through both words and actions.
Why is this so? The Sustaining Jackson Hole Philanthropy Working Group was developed to help answer this question. Organizers recognized that, by all appearances, the local non-profit community is growing in size and importance, a phenomenon which wouldn’t be possible without continuing strong support – in both time and money – from Teton County’s residents. Understanding the many elements of Jackson Hole’s non-profit community – its size, its growth, its finances and effect on the community and, most critically, the reasons motivating those who so generously support local non-profits – became the motivation for creating this group for the 2005 iteration of Sustaining Jackson Hole.
To fully appreciate Jackson Hole’s non-profit world, the Working Group felt it was necessary to understand both those making donations and those receiving them. Unfortunately, in both cases, the desire for information was much greater than the information available to the group.
In the case of those who give, because there are no consolidated data about volunteer hours donated to Jackson Hole’s non-profits, the Philanthropy Working Group’s focus was on financial donations: charitable, to political causes, and to local churches No solid data were available about donations to local churches.
In the case of those who receive, the Philanthropy Working Group relied on various inventories of non-profit organizations in the greater Jackson Hole Area (i.e. Teton County, WY and Teton County, ID) compiled by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, in both its annual non-profit directories and its lists of those organizations participating each year in Old Bill’s Fun Run.
Regardless of the data quality, however, no amount of statistical information can answer the fundamental question underlying Jackson Hole’s rapidly-expanding non-profit economy: what lies at the heart of the community’s culture of philanthropy? The available data strongly suggest that Teton County’s residents are exceptionally generous, and in turn enjoy a remarkable variety of services from local non-profits. At a minimum, without the non-profit community, Teton County residents and visitors would have to look to the government to provide those services, or go without.
But the great unanswered question – one that can only be posed, but not answered in this report – is what motivates Teton County residents to be so generous? A related, and similarly important question, is what would cause them to alter their behavior? What threats exist to that culture of philanthropy? Without clear answers, the community risks inadvertently harming an increasingly important aspect of not just the community’s economy, but of its character.
II. Participants
• Bill Broyles
• Ted & Addie Donnan
• Leslie Mattson-Emerson, Grand Teton National Park Foundation
• Jack Shea, Teton Science Schools
• Clare Payne Symmons, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole
III. Indicators
A. Non-profit organizations
There is no single reliable source of information about Jackson Hole’s non-profits. The data for this section are from a combination of the annual non-profit directories compiled by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole (done yearly since 1990) and the annual rosters of participants in Old Bill’s Fun Run (done yearly since 1997). However, since both sources rely on organizations to self-report, neither is complete, and data quantity and quality can vary from year to year.
Complete understanding of Jackson Hole’s non-profit community is also complicated by definitional issues. Four in particular stand out. One is that it isn’t clear whether some organizations are still in existence. The second is the fact that organizations like some local churches, the Teton County School District, and the Teton County/Jackson Parks and Recreation department have developed affiliates which are eligible for charitable donations. Whether such organizations truly count as non-profits can be debated.
The third definitional issue is that some non-profits have multiple operations, each of which can be donated to independently.
With each of these first three questions, the Working Group’s approach has been to take a liberal approach to defining a non-profit, relying on the organization’s own self-identification. This approach stands in contrast to the Community Foundation’s internal definition, which counts as a true non-profit only those organizations with stand-alone 501(c)3 designations from the IRS.
The fourth issue is that non-profits such as St. John’s Medical Center and the Grand Teton Natural History Association derive most of their income from operations. Still others, such as the Center for the Arts, have large capital components to their budgets. When combined with the fact that many organizations don’t report their budgets on an annual basis, this makes it difficult to determine the overall size of Jackson Hole’s non-profit community, or to accurately determine its contribution to the local economy.
A1. Non-profit organizations: Number, development, and focus
A1a. Number of non-profit organizations in Jackson Hole and the surrounding region.
Rationale: The number of non-profit organizations reflects the “market” for their services, as well as the community’s in supporting them, as well as its ability to support them.
Comment: Since 1990, 358 non-profit organizations have been identified as operating in either Teton County, Wyoming or Teton County, Idaho. Of these, roughly 60 percent are currently in operation: As with businesses, non-profits are also subject to market forces.
A1b. Growth of non-profit organizations in Teton County, 1900-2004
Rationale: The pace of growth in the number of local non-profits reflects their growing importance within the community.
Comment: While non-profits have been present in Jackson Hole since around the time of first permanent human settlement (the school system and St. John’s Church both started in the first decade of the 20th century), roughly half of the non-profits in the two Teton counties have come into existence in the last 10 years.
A1c. Organizational focus of non-profits, 1990-2005
Rationale: Understanding the audiences served by Jackson Hole’s non-profits gives some insight into community needs not being met by the public or private sectors.
Comment: Since 1990, roughly 1/3 of the greater Jackson Hole area’s non-profits have focused on providing health or human services to the community. Another 1/7 or so have focused on education, and a similar amount on conservation. No other single category accounts for more than 10 percent of all organizations. A2. Non-profit organizations: Finances
A2a. Total combined operating budgets
Rationale: The combined operating budgets of Jackson Hole’s non-profits gives a sense of how economically successful they are, as well as the overall effect of non-profits on Teton County’s billion-dollar-plus economy.
Comment: In 2004, using the broadest definition of local non-profits, the 120 Teton County non-profit organizations reporting their incomes to the Community Foundation had total operating budgets exceeding $160 million. Backing out the revenues of public institutions (e.g. St. John’s Medical Center and the Teton County school district), churches, and organizations based outside the greater Jackson Hole area, the total operating budgets fell by nearly 80 percent, to $37 million. This is still up markedly from 1990.
A2b. Distribution of non-profits by budget size
Rationale: Although the 2004 culled list of Jackson Hole area non-profits shows 100 organizations, their budgets vary in size from a few hundred dollars to several million. Understanding the diversity of financial size sheds light on the diversity of the county’s non-profit organizations.
Comment: Two-thirds of Jackson Hole area non-profits have an income of under $250,000; over 40 percent have budgets of under $100,000. However, the 7 organizations with budgets over $1 million – Grand Teton Music Festival, Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center, The Learning Center, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Teton Science Schools, Teton Youth and Family Services, and the Teton Valley Ranch Camp Education Foundation – account for nearly half of the total revenue of the culled non-profit group. A2c. Operating budget expenditures by type
Rationale: The Community Foundation asks each non-profit to divide its operations budget into three categories: administrative, fundraising, and program. The collective amount spent on each category can serve as a benchmark for both donors and individual organizations.
Comment: The entire set of non-profits reporting budget figures in 2004 spent nearly 90 percent of their combined budgets on operations. Focusing just on the culled set of non-profits, their collective expenditures on both administration and fundraising were twice that of the proportion spent by the entire set, a reflection of the larger size and different revenue mix of the culled-out organizations.
B. Philanthropic donations in Teton County
Philanthropic donations are those which go to 501(c)3 organizations (i.e. those which can be deducted from one’s income tax). The data in this section are from tax returns; however, local-level IRS data on charitable giving is generally available only for 2002. 1997 data came from a special IRS report obtained by the Charture Institute.
B1. Mean charitable giving per tax return, versus the US and Wyoming
Rationale: Trend data show how residents’ general willingness to give to charitable causes is changing over time. Per capita data take into account the fact of Teton County’s growing population. Comparative data allow for an understanding of how Teton County residents’ charitable giving patterns compare to those of the state and nation. (Note: the 1997 IRS data do not allow for per capita analyses, so data were evaluated on a per return basis.)
Comment: Teton County residents’ per capita charitable giving, and their charitable giving as a proportion of total income, ranked among the highest of all US counties in both 1997 and 2002. Both residents’ total income and total giving increased slightly between 1997 and 2002. B2. Proportion of total income given to charitable causes, versus the US and Wyoming
Rationale: The proportion of income given to philanthropic causes shows residents’ relative generosity over time. Comparing Teton County residents’ proportion of income given to that of Wyoming and the nation shows residents’ relative generosity set in a larger context.
Comment: Teton County residents give over three times as much of their income to philanthropic causes as do the residents of the state or nation as a whole. Teton County residents also account for around 40 percent of all charitable giving by Wyoming residents. Between 1997 and 2002, the proportion of income given by all groups stayed relatively flat.
B3. Old Bill’s Fun Run
Rationale: Old Bill’s Fun Run is an annual community event involving nearly all of Teton County non-profits, and is the most recognized and heavily-supported philanthropic event in the county. The amount of money raised through Old Bill’s is indicative of overall community support for local non-profit activities.
Comment: Old Bill’s involves three types of support for non-profits: involvement in the run; donations to individual non-profits (“Donations” in the graph), and money given to a matching pool (“Matching Funds”). While there has been little growth in matching funds in recent years, and while donations grew only slightly in 2004, there has been a marked increase every year in the number of total participants involved. In particular, in 1997, roughly 1/25 of Teton County’s permanent population participated in Old Bill’s; in 2004, the proportion was better than 1 in 8.
C. Political donations in Teton County
Unlike philanthropic donations, an individual’s donations to a political campaign cannot be deducted from income tax. The data reported in this section cover only Teton County residents’ contributions to federal campaigns and advocacy groups (e.g. political parties, 527s, and PACS) during the 2004 election cycle, and only those donations of $200 or more. No ready sources exist detailing smaller contributions, or those to state and local campaigns. Data in this section come from OpenSecrets.org, and is based on filings with the Federal Elections Commission.
C1. Per capita contributions to federal campaigns, per election cycle
Rationale: Trend data show how residents’ general willingness to give to political campaigns is changing over time. Per capita data take into account the fact of Teton County’s growing population. (Note: 1996, 2000, and 2004 were presidential election years.)
Comment: Teton County’s per capita contributions to federal campaigns during non-presidential years have been roughly doubling during each of the last three election cycles. Contributions to federal campaigns during election years have been growing at a slower rate, but from a much higher base. (Note: The large contribution levels in 2000 and 2004 may have been influenced by the fact that Vice-President Cheney claims Teton County as his permanent residence.)
C2. 2004 contributors and contributions to federal campaigns
Rationale: Knowing how many people contributed, how many contributions they made, and how much was contributed provides baseline data about Teton County residents’ willingness to donate.
Comment: In the 2004 election cycle, roughly 3 percent of Teton County’s permanent residents made donations of >=$200 to one or more federal campaigns. Teton County residents gave more per capita to federal campaigns and advocacy groups than did the residents of any other US county.
C3. 2004 per capita giving by Teton County residents, v. the US and Wyoming
Rationale: Per capita giving shows residents’ relative willingness to donate to federal candidates and causes.
Comment: In the 2004 election cycle,Teton County residents gave 13 times more per capita than the typical Wyoming resident, and 17 times more per capita than the typical US resident.
C4. 2004 per capita giving by Teton County residents, v. other resort counties
Rationale: Teton County has more in common with other resort communities than it does with other counties in Wyoming. Comparing Teton County’s giving patterns to those of other resort counties gives more of an “apples-to-apples” sense of Teton County residents’ willingness to donate to candidates and causes of their choice.
Comment: Teton County residents were markedly more generous in their political giving than were the residents of any of their “peer” counties.
C5. Recipients of Teton County residents’ giving in 2004
Rationale: Roughly half of Teton County residents are registered as Republicans, with the remaining half split roughly evenly between Democrats and independents. Comparing giving patterns to registration shows the degree of correlation
Comment: As with registration, roughly half of Teton County residents’ 2004 contributions went to Republican candidates and causes. As with total giving, this may have been influenced by the fact of Vice-President Cheney claiming Teton County as his permanent residence. IV. Wish List
• Time donated by volunteers and Board members to charity organizations
• Donations by residents to local organizations
• Donations to religious organizations
• Other resources donated to non-profit organizations (i.e., land, buildings, technology)
• Correlations between emerging needs of the community and organizations/areas
or interest receiving donations
• Comparison of the size of the philanthropic community to local government budgets
• Number of full-time equivalent employees of the non-profit sector
• Philanthropic giving percentages - how does Teton County compare with the national
averages in years besides 1997 and 2002?
V. Statement of Ideal
Every Teton County resident will actively participate in the community’s philanthropic life by donating meaningful amounts of time and/or money to the Jackson Hole community.
Comment: The lifeblood of non-profit organizations is the support volunteered by their friends and constituents. Not everyone is capable of giving money to an organization; not everyone is capable of giving time. However, if all members of the greater Jackson Hole community can give time and/or money to at least one area non-profit, this should ensure that the local non-profit sector continues to thrive.
The challenge in achieving this ideal will be in developing measurement tools.
VI. Action Component
Much of the discussion in the Philanthropy Working Group focused around the fact that there is no comprehensive understanding of the extent of Teton County’s giving patterns. This complicates matters from both the donor and recipient perspectives. As a result, emphasis was placed on simply finding out how much giving and receiving goes on, to establish a baseline against which to judge future activity.
There was also a recognition of the need to document how the non-profit sector is growing, and how it is assuming an increasingly important role in the community’s life. Once this is established, focus can be turned to understanding the reasons underlying the community’s culture of philanthropy.
