Volunteers
8
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina
Length of stay
The American Society of Association
Executives says 44 percent of its mem
ber organizations have three-year terms
for board members.
Asking is key
Study shows teen voluntarism on rise
By Barbara Solow
Generation X detractors, take
note.
A new national survey has found
that American teenagers are volun
teering and giving more to charity.
In its third national survey on giv
ing and volunteering among
teenagers, Independent Sector - a
national nonprofit trade group -
found the number of teens volunteer
ing in the U.S. rose by 7 percent
between 1992 and 1996. Total volun
teer hours rose by 17 percent during
YOUTH
the same period.
Teens volunteered 2.4 billion
hours, the study found -1.8 billion of
those hours in formal commitments
to organizations and 600 million
hours to neighbors or in informal
commitments to organizations.
While the number of teens con
tributing money to charitable organi
zations fell, the amount of the aver
age annual contribution rose to $82
in 1995 from $56 in 1991.
The study found teens were four
times as likely to volunteer if they
were asked than if they were not
asked. Significantly, non-white
teenagers - especially black
teenagers - were less likely to be
asked to volunteer than whites.
“The young people of our minority
populations are an untapped
resource,” Sara Melendez, president
of Independent Sector, said in a
release accompanying the study.
Nonprofit “organization leaders,
teachers, religious leaders and par
ents must cultivate all our youth
equally to contribute their t^ents
and time to helping others.”
Among other survey findings:
• Teens who had experienced
positive role models as children were
nearly twice as likely to volunteer
and to contribute as those who had
not.
• Participation in activities such
as religious groups or community
service projects led to higher rates of
volunteering.
Look for STUDY, page 9
Jingle all the way
Holiday ball collects toys for needy kids
The third annual Jingle Ball in
Raleigh collected several thou
sand toys to be distributed by
the Salvation Army - despite
publicity about another event
with the same name.
By Ashley Peay
Raleigh
Skirting a slight scare just before
their “Jingle Ball” Christmas charity
benefit party the Capital City Clauses
collected two truckloads of toys to
distribute to needy children m Wake
County.
Two weeks before the party the
nonprofit’s board learned that, this
year, its group was not the only one
sponsoring a Jingle Ball.
WDCG Radio, G105, was advertis
ing a Jingle Ball - that was not a char
ity event - to be held four days after
the Capital City Clauses’ party
Board members of the original
Jin^e Ball immediately began phon-
HOLIDAY GIVING
ing the station to alert it to the situa
tion and ask that it change the name
of its event.
WDCG “was very cooperative with
our needs and agreed to stop all pro
motions immediately and change the
name of their party to the Christmas
Ball,” says Curt WiUiams, a Raleigi
lawyer and president of the board of
the Capital City Clauses. “What we.
feared most was a lot of confusion
with the large number of people that
had been guests at previous Jingle
Ball parties. We just didn’t want to
lose what we had worked so hard
for.”
The Capital City Clauses was
formed in 1993 by seven Raleigh
lawyers who had heard of a similar
event in Charlotte.
Capital City Clauses board members Laura Isley and Stephen
Bryant take a quick break after loading toys at the Jingle Ball, a
nonprofit event that gathers toys for the needy.
The Jingle Ball is the only event
the Clauses plan.
Last year, nearly 2,500 guests
filled the North Carolina Museum of
History for the Clauses’ Jingle Ball.
This year, the party moved to the Ritz
Theatre and attracted about 2,000
guests.
Both years, thousands of toys
were gathered to he donated to the
Salvation Army’s Christmas Cheer
program, WDliams says.
Major Jack Repass, commanding
officer of the Wake County Salvation
Army, says that the Christmas Cheer
program has been helping families
for more than 50 years. Last year,
approximately 12,000 families in
Wake county were served by the
Salvation Army with help from
groups such as the Clauses.
“It’s a big, big program,” says
Repass. “Without folks such as the
Clauses and the hundreds of volun
teers that help us out, we could never
serve this community and meet its
needs.”
Admission to the Jingle Ball
requires a guest to bring a toy worth
$15 to $20. Guests who do not bring a
toy are asked to make a $20 donation
to help cover expenses for next year’s
party.
Current expenses are covered by
corporate and individual sponsor
ships. This year’s corporate sponsors
included Long Beverage Company,
WRAL-FM, Tomcat Brewing
Company and the Law Offices of
Richard Noel Gusler.
Individual sponsors not only
donate $50 to help pay for the party,
but also agree to work as volunteers
at the event.
“What is so overwheiming is the
amount of generosity of the people
who come to the party,” says Lucia
Peel, board treasurer of the Clauses
and one of the original seven mem
bers who began planning the event
three years ago. “Not only do we col
lect a huge number of toys, but the
quality of the toys is incredible. This
year, within the first hour, we had col
lected five bicycles, and each year we
bring in about $3,000 to $5,000 in
donations at the door.”
Peel says she was concerned the
first year that attendance would be
low and that the nonprofit board
should not rely on donations made at
the door to cover expenses.
After explosive attendance that
first year, however. Peel says, this
year’s name confusion with the radio
station didn’t worry her in the least.
Although the Capital City Clauses
did not have the name ‘Jin^e Ball”
registered with the federal trade
mark office or the North Carolina
Secretary of State’s Office, they did
have common law trademark rights
to the name. Peel says.
The board has since begun an offi
cial trademark registration process
to ensure that a similar name mixup
does not happen in the future.
Williams, the Clauses board chair,
says the most important thing about
the Jin^e Ball is not its name, but the
commitment of its volunteers.
“We aren’t here for a social
event,” he says. “We’re here to gather
toys for the Idds in Wake County and
I think we’re quite suecessful at
that.”
January 1997
Day of honor
Fundraisers
recognize
top givers
By Stephanie Greer
North Carolina volunteers, corpo
rate givers and individuals were rec
ognized at local celebrations of
National Philanthropy Day
The Western North Carolina and
Trian^e chapters of the National
Society of Fund Raising Executives
hosted celebrations in November at
the Radisson Hotel in Asheville and
the Geoige Watts Hill Alumni Center
at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
AWARDS
The Charlotte NSFRE chapter
does not have a Philanthropy Day cel
ebration or awards. Because of
Hurricane Fran’s aftermath, the Cape
Fear chapter of NSFRE postponed its
Philanthropy Day celebration and
awards until F^ebruary 26; the
Piedmont chapter of NSFRE will hold
its “Fundraising Day" celebration and
awards on March 18. The new north
west NSFRE chapter did not hold a
celebration this year. ,, ,
National celebrations are held
each year on the third Tuesday of
November. The events are designed to
meet the needs of the communities
hosting them.
Triangle-area winners were:
• Frank and Julia Daniels,
Outstanding Philanthropists. The
Daniels family sold The News and
Observer in Raleigh in August 1995,
and the Daniels’ long have been
involved in many facets of philan
thropy and fundraising in the region.
Most recently, Frank Daniels chaired
the first regional campaign of the
Triangle United Way.
• Ahce Kirby Horton, Outstanding
Volunteer Fundraiser. Horton earned
accolades for her success as a volun
teer fundraiser and for the long hours
of hard work she puts into her many
projects, most notably campaigns for
Durham Academy and Wake Forest
University in Winston-Salem.
• North Carolina Mutual Life,
Outstanding Corporation. The compa
ny consistently has given to various
projects in Durham, including the
Durham Arts Council. The primaiy
focus of the organization’s giving pro
gram has been helping the city’s
African-American community.
• Matt Kupec, Outstanding
Fundraising Executive. Kupec, vice
chancellor for university development
Look for AWARDS, page 9
BRIEFLY
AT&T gives time off to
volunteer
AT&T Corp. is giving oil
127,000 employees a paid
day off for volunteer work
over the next year. Nonprofit
leaders say AT&T is the
largest U.S. company to com
mit itself publicly to paid vol
unteer leave. The program
should total 1 million hours
of volunteer time worth $20
million and will be renewed,
based on the response.
Students help build
homes for poor
More than 1,500 UNC-
Chapel Hill students are
involved in several Habitat for
Humanity partnerships -
mostly with churches. The stu
dents represent 21 campus
groups and are helping to
build seven homes in Orange
County.
Passage Home needs
nev/sletter volunteers
Passage Home, a Raleigh-
based nonprofit that helps
homeless families, needs a
volunteer to help with its
newsletter. The person should
have writing, computer and
editing skills. Call Sid Myers,
(919) 834-0666.
Fundraising group
seeks mentors
The Carolines Association of
Professional Researchers for
Advancement operates a vol
unteer peer mentoring pro
gram for fundraisers. People
interested in serving as men
tors or in need of mentors
.can call Toni Keplinger, (919)
962-0231 or send email to
Toni_Keplinger@unc.
edu
College fund seeks
volunteers for telethon
The College Fund/United
Negro College Fund of
Raleigh and Wake is seeking
volunteers to help with its
17th annual Parade of Stars
telethon this month.
Volunteers will be trained at
two sessions. Call (919) 546-
8260.
History museum
needs volunteers
The N.C. Museum of History
in Raleigh is looking for vol
unteers to help make history
come alive for the 300,000
children who visit each year.
Training sessions will be held
through March. You do not
need to be a history expert to
participate. Call Debra
Nicols, (919) 715-0200, ext.
309.