Over the last 20 years, the Sisters of the Holy Cross received several offers to develop part of their property in Notre Dame, Ind. Nothing enticed them-until last year. That`s when falling interest rates led to projections of underfunding for the future needs of the sisters` retirement trust.
The sisters became partners with Holliday Corp., a Washington, D.C.-based hotel-management company, to develop a 120-room hotel.
The inn, on the campus of St. Mary`s College, opened in April and should provide the order with annual revenue of $100,000, said John Hollenkamp, controller for Holy Cross Shared Services Inc., the order`s administrative unit. As a bonus, the project provides employment for some students looking to defray college expenses.
Midwestern non-profit, charitable entities such as Sisters of the Holy Cross, Hinsdale`s Wellness Community, Evanston`s Youth Organizations Umbrella Inc. and Chicago`s Jane Addams Hull House Association are developing innovative revenue-producing and expense-reducing plans as a result of recession economics.
In addition to ”recessionomics,” the 1986 Federal Tax Reduction Act has hurt charities, Hollenkamp said. That law reduced corporate income-tax rates, which has reduced the incentive for corporations to make tax-free contributions.
The act`s elimination of deductions for charitable contributions by non-itemizing filers also hurt local giving, Hollenkamp said. ”It`s as if the government is turning off the utility bill on the points of light,” he said. The Wellness Community, a free psycho-social support program for cancer patients and their families, is constructing a 5,000 square-foot facility entirely with donated supplies and labor, Executive Director William E. Walker said. More than 80 contractors and major companies are cooperating in the $1.5 million project, which will serve 400 patients weekly. The building should be completed by October, he said.
”It`s a tough time to raise money,” Walker said. ”But it`s not a time when people have stopped caring. It`s like an old-fashioned barn-raising. Everyone comes and brings what he has to contribute to the community. Whenever people work together to help an individual in a community, the entire community is strengthened.”
Youth Organizations Umbrella lost some government funding for its $285,000 budget for youth-outreach activities. To compensate, the group convinced Evanston to emblazon the organization`s name on the backs of more than 35,000 city vehicle-registration stickers, raising public awareness of the organization.
”It`s the best year we`ve ever had,” said Donald Baker, executive director of the 20-year-old agency, which has collected $82,000 this year.
Hull House is developing an alumni organization for fundraising, said Betsy Campbell, marketing vice president. Members will be descendants of the more than 1 million immigrants who learned about America and were taught English and job skills at the West Side center, founded 103 years ago.
To cut expenses, part-time staff makes up 41 percent of Hull House`s employees. Other work force needs are met through a contract with Citizens Information Services, a non-profit job-training service. The organizations split salary costs for three people in training as administrative assistants, drivers and aides at Hull House, Campbell said.
Fueling such creativity is intense local competition for charitable dollars, because of the high number of capital campaigns under way.
The Donor`s Forum, a non-profit organization that monitors local philanthropic activity, recently released a study indicating that 51 major Chicago cultural and charitable institutions are sponsoring major capital campaigns, to raise a total of $1.83 billion.
Organizations include the Musuem of Science and Industry ($57.5 million), the Art Institute ($55 million), Rush Presbyterian St. Luke`s Medical Center
($150 million) and Northwestern Memorial Hospital ($100 million).
”It`s very important to create a working and collaborative relationship between donors, volunteers and staff,” said Thomas J. Eyerman, vice president of development for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. ”These are the people who make it work. It`s equally important to create a vision reflective of the 1990s.”
Sally Ver Schave Iberg, Chicago chapter president of the National Association of Fund-Raising Executives, said charitable contributions nationwide increased from $122.5 billion in 1989 to $124.7 billion in 1990. However, some segments of giving dropped, she said, such as contributions to arts and cultural entities, which declined 3 percent.
In Illinois, which ranks fourth nationwide for non-profit contributions, revenues in 1990 totaled $21.4 billion, said Donald Tebbe, president of the Council of Illinois Nonprofit Organizations. Only New York, California and Texas charities receive more in contributions annually, he said.
