Ramping up giving Steven Herman is a CB&T senior vice president and manager of its Community Development Finance division. He says that there has indeed been a shift of philanthropic policy during and after the pandemic, which has put an economic strain on the country. “I think what comes to my mind — and it’s similar to the way the bank approaches credit risk during times like these — is that there is a related approach to how we should handle giving and philanthropy,” Herman says. “There is a ‘flight to quality’ approach that becomes operative.” According to Herman, over the last few years with COVID-19 and the economy being what it was, some of the larger, well-organized nonprofits had the internal mechanisms and capacity to weather the storm. “Many actually got bigger. So, when I think about where we are today [in terms of philanthropic giving or activity], donors want to make sure that they’ve done their homework. If you’re a ‘giver’ making contributions to particular organizations, you want to be sure
Economic development “This mostly falls under support for small-business development.
For one thing, [CB&T] outperformed a lot of other banks when it came to our administration of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that was initiated in 2020. Additionally, we complemented that with corporate giving efforts focused on Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). A lot of that took the form of helping small businesses that perhaps couldn’t get financial help through a bank. So, effectively, we were hitting businesses from both sides. Those that couldn’t get loans through traditional channels but, instead, were able to work through a CDFI nonprofit.” Housing and housing security “We did a lot of giving around supporting organizations that help low- and moderate-income families stay in their homes during these tough times. This has been a real focus for us. Then, we did a lot of giving around homelessness and homelessness services. Additionally, my group does a lot of lending around financing new, affordable housing for formerly homeless people and low-income families.” Pandemic relief and food security “We supported nonprofits and other organizations that function as food banks, helping people become more food secure.”
that the recipient satisfies the basic criteria of being financially solvent, that they’re able to take your dollars and invest them meaningfully and impactfully to their cause. Over the past few years, there have been a lot of groups out there — nonprofits, I mean — that just didn’t make it; they didn’t survive.” Rather than backing off and waiting for better times, Herman believes that “giving” organizations should either ramp up their activity or at least maintain their status quo. “During harder times, it becomes even more important to give and
What about the economy? Another looming issue that has impacted
philanthropic giving is the rise of inflation, and the ripple effect that inflationary conditions are having on the economy and virtually every segment of our society. For some insight, we turned to Emily Young, the executive director of the Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego. The institute’s mission is to support and champion the nonprofit sector through leading-edge research. Additionally, Young and her team work to strengthen leaders and organizations committed to social good. Young’s 20-plus-year background in nearly every aspect of philanthropy and giving provides her with a unique perspective on the cultural and economic issues that may affect it. She describes how, very early into her tenure at the institute, Herman and CB&T sought out her organization and how,
From left to right, CB&T associates David Swartz, Steve Herman and Ahmad Ghaussi, onsite at a Habitat for Humanity project.
support the worthy causes,” he says. “The impact of those tougher times on communities is even greater than it was pre-pandemic, for example. So, you can make the argument that corporate giving is even more critical today than it was during less stressful times.” Herman cites three specific areas in CB&T’s sphere where the bank has identified a more pronounced need for giving, and where it has turned its philanthropic focus.
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 12 | 2022
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