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News Stories
STATE OF THE RANCHO SANTA FE FOUNDATION
 Photo courtesy of RSF Review
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1. In January 2007, Greg Hillgren began his second term as Chairman of the
Board of Directors.
The Board consisted of 29 members, the endowment was valued at $24,411,493 and
there were 154 endowment funds. Of these 154 funds, 63 were donor advised, 17
were designated endowments (7 of which benefit the operations of the Foundation),
8 were field of interest funds, 36 were agency endowments, 7 were agency investment
funds and 23 were un-restricted endowments including the General Endowment.
2.
New members of the Board included Franci Free, Mary Hart, John Major and Rick
Sapp. Louise Kasch stepped down after serving eight years. Gayle Gillies Mize,
Neil Ash and Don Oliphant were honored after nine years of service on the Board.
3.
Operating Revenues exceeded Expenses by $33,329 for 2007 and Administrative
Fee revenue was almost 10% over budget.
4. New assets to the Foundation totaled
$8,461,338 million. We received 637 new gifts ( 415 for 2006).
5. Grantmaking
totaled $4,894,471, which is comprised of 628 separate grants (502 in 2006).
This represents a 7.5% decrease in dollars granted this year, but a 25% increase
in the number of grants made.
6. In July, we received our designation from the
National Standards for Compliance for Community Foundations under the auspices
of the Council on Foundations. It was an arduous task, but we can now validate
that we are among the top 40% of community foundations across the nation.
7. The
Foundation continues to work with the RSF Association on the restoration of open
space in our area, most particularly the Osuna House Restoration project.
8. The
2006 Audit went smoothly but the Audit Committee recommended that we change Auditors
in 2007. We will be working with Mayer, Hoffman, McCann for the next three years.
9.
The October wildfires saw the Foundation take a key leadership role in the community.
The Good Samaritan, Disaster Relief, First Responders and Re-Building Lives funds
received gifts totaling nearly $250,000 and grants to date of $79,000. We were
the "go to" organization in the community as we convened the
Fire Recovery Coordinating Committee whose work will continue for as long as
necessary.
10. Debbie Anderson continues as the Program Director of the Women's
Fund and as Grants Administrator for the Grants & Projects Committee. Dan
Beals serves as the Finance Manager of the Foundation .Certainly, one of the
greatest reasons for our growth this year was due to Debbie and Dan's commitment
to our organization.
11. We continue to hold our Board Meetings, and many other
functions, at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. We are so appreciative of Murray Hutchison
and the staff of the hotel for the many courtesies shown to us, and for the underwriting
of the Annual Board of Directors dinner.
12. Kerman Beriker and The Inn at Rancho
Santa Fe were the recipients of the 7th Annual awarding of the Bagnall Award
for Excellence in Philanthropy.
13. The fourth annual Financial Advisors Breakfast
was held in November, and was a wonderful opportunity to reach out to those in
the community who will work with us on charitable giving. We thank Jack Queen
and Martin Dickinson for bringing Charles Brandes, who was the keynote speaker.
14.
Gayle Gillies Mize was the Foundation's honoree for the North County Philanthropy
Council Volunteer of the Year. Gayle was honored for her nine year commitment
to the Foundation and for her role as the Founder of the RSF Women's Fund. She
joins the ranks of Arloe Paul, Holly and Tony Wilson, Gordy Bartow, Elsie Weston,
John Seiber, Bob Goldsmith and Neil Ash and Blaine and LaVerne Briggs who were
all former honorees.
15. The Rancho Santa Fe Women's Fund grew rapidly as well.
We began the year with 112 members and at year end we had 137. The Women's Fund
granted $265,000 to 6 North County organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters
of S.D., Burn Institute, Fostering Opportunities Dollars for Scholars, Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation, Kids Included Together and Neurosciences Research
Foundation. This brings the total of their grants to $495,000 in three years,
to 18 different organizations. Emily Bagnall continues to serve as the liaison
from the Foundation to the Women's Fund.
16. We again wish to express our gratitude
to Union Bank of California for the donation of office space. We have been on
a rent-free basis since 1998, and during that time they have assisted us with
the financing of the office re-model and the lighting retro-fit.
In looking forward to 2008:
- We welcome four new Board Members: Gigi
Fenley, Neil Hokanson, Bill Ruh and Dick Woltman. The Foundation endowment is
currently at $29.5 million with 193 funds under management.
- 2008 timeline/annual goals will be presented at meeting
RSF EVENING AT THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
| On Monday evening September 17th, 185 people from our community
boarded buses bound for the San Diego Natural History Museum to see The Dead
Sea Scrolls exhibition. The trip was sponsored by the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation,
as part of its efforts to increase awareness by our residents of the Natural |
Copper Scroll Courtesy of
West Semitic Research |
| History Museum and the other museums and theatres
in Balboa Park. |
The San Diego Natural History Museum’s exhibition Dead Sea Scrolls was the largest, longest, most comprehensive ever assembled in any country. Spanning two floors and 12,000 square feet, 27 Dead Sea Scrolls—10 exhibited for the first time ever—were on display over the course of the exhibition, which ran through December 2007. The six-month exhibition brought together materials never before exhibited together: Dead Sea Scrolls from Israel and Jordan reunited for the first time in sixty years, never-before-exhibited ancient Hebrew codices from the Russian National Library, medieval manuscripts from the British National Library, and stunning modern interpretations of the texts. Tracing the scrolls and their meaning through time, the exhibition connected the ancient world to the modern.
The Dead Sea Scrolls—objects of great mystery, intrigue and significance—are
widely acknowledged to be among the greatest archaeological treasures ever discovered.
2007 BOARD DINNER
| Accolades were passed all around the room as the Foundation
held its Annual Board Dinner, on the evening of November 14th, which was hosted
by The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. Three Directors were honored for completion of
nine years of service on the Board. Gayle Gillies Mize, Neil Ash and Don Oliphant
joined the Board in 1999 and have served with distinction ever since. Both Gayle
and Don have served a two year |
 Dan
Pittard and Greg Hillgren |
| term as Chairman of the Board and Neil served as
the chairman of the Audit Committee for several years. Four other directors have
also been honored in the past for nine years of service. They are Margaret Carl-Swirles,
Tony Wilson, Murray Hutchison and John Seiber. |
2007 BAGNALL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PHILANTHROPY PRESENTED TO KERMIN BERIKER AND THE INN AT RANCHO SANTA FE
| Mike Bagnall was the man behind the idea of honoring people
in our community who are the inspiration for the work of local non-profit organizations.
For seven years the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation has presented an annual award
to someone in the community who demonstrates “excellence in philanthropy.” This
$1,000 grant award, from the Michael L. Bagnall Memorial Fund, was established
in Mr. Bagnall’s memory by his family and |
 Kerman
Beriker, Kristina Beriker,
and Dan Pittard |
| friends. It acknowledges people in the community
who with non-profit partners have shown creativity, vision and innovation in
working to implement new programs to better serve the Rancho Santa Fe community. |
In order to qualify for the award the following criteria must be met. The organization must conduct its primary activities within the covenant boundaries of Rancho Santa Fe and the organization must be a qualified 50l (c) (3) institution.
On the evening of November 14th, members of the Foundation and the staff of The Inn gathered at the annual board dinner hosted by The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe to honor this year’s recipient, Kerman Beriker and The Inn for their generosity to all of the non-profit organizations in our community. Mr. Beriker selected the Rancho Santa Fe Community Center to be the recipient of the $1,000 award.
FIRE RELIEF EFFORTS: A REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY
For most of us in San Diego County, the horrors of the morning of October 22, 2007 are beginning to fade as we resume our lives and prepare for the holiday season. But for more than 1800 families, their reality is how to go about re-building their lives and their homes.
 We are proud of the manner in which San Diego County has responded to the wildfire recovery effort, and our community is equally deserving of recognition. First and foremost, our friends and neighbors have opened their hearts as well as their checkbooks and provided the funding that has moved this effort forward. In Rancho Santa Fe alone, we estimate that more than $250,000 has come into the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation’s four funds that were established to assist in this effort (link here to funds). The Village Church has also received more than $100,000. And grants to those who have suffered loss or damage to their homes total more than $100,000. Assistance has primarily been provided in the form of gift cards and limited amounts of cash, with many local families receiving temporary housing, food, holiday decorations, and much, much more.
The Fire Recovery Coordinating Committee has been meeting on a very regular basis to discuss what assistance is being given to those in need and we have collaborated with each other in order to maximize our granting potential. These conversations are confidential and have focused so far on providing short term assistance. It is our intention to hold back some funds until fire victims can better assess what financial assistance they will have from their insurance companies, FEMA and any other regional, state or federal organizations that may be able to help. We understand that this is an on-going situation and one that we are committed to funding for the long term.
 But perhaps the most heartwarming story of all is a call that I received Mid-November from the Principal of the Montessori School in Versailles, Kentucky. Mr. Guarliardo told me some of his students had organized a bake sale to raise money for the fire victims in Southern California. And after the bake sale was so successful ($200), they had decided to do a food and clothing drive as well. On December 18th, a UPS truck filled with 21 boxes of gently used clothing and non-perishable food items were delivered to the Foundation offices. The same day, we had picked up 75 wrapped new gifts and a variety of gift cards from Kids Korps USA. All of this was delivered to the fire victims who live in Valley Center … working through the Paradise Community Center. Here is a wonderful case of children helping children.
JANUARY 27TH COMMUNITY EVENT
 “Today’s event is about a community coming together to show its
appreciation to the First Responders and to each other for support and assistance
in the aftermath of the October Wildfires” said Jack Baca, Senior Pastor
of the Village Church and the M.C. for the day.
Gathered at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe were more than 100 residents of the various
communities that make up the RSF Fire Protection  District. Besides the time for
personally thanking the First Responders who were in attendance and the time
for fellowship with friends and neighbors, the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe was host
for light refreshments and the Peter Pupping Quartet provided entertainment.
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3/20/08
