Valley businessman guides way to smart philanthropy
BETH SHAPIRO
Staff Writer
Jerry Hirsch, left, local philanthropist who started The Lodestar Foundation, shakes hands with Robert Ashcraft, director of ASU's Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation.
Photo courtesy of ASU Lodestar Center
Jerry Hirsch's formula for building a successful nonprofit organization is simple: Run it like a business.
A prominent businessman who helped develop the Camelback Esplanade project in Phoenix and the past owner and operator of Rawhide Western Town, formerly in north Scottsdale, Hirsch puts his money where his business values are. He chooses to invest in nonprofits that engage in good business practices.
Meaning in life
In 1999, Hirsch established The Lodestar Foundation, a grant-making organization that encourages philanthropy and improves the way nonprofits do business. He chose the name "lodestar," which generally means "guiding principle," to reflect his personal philosophy of "seeking happiness through philanthropy," the foundation's tagline. (Visit lodestarfoundation.org)
"In my life, I've made quite a few successful business deals, but nothing compares to the successes I've achieved in philanthropy," says Hirsch. "It all goes to the concept of personal satisfaction. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I can't imagine anything being more satisfying than doing good for somebody else."
Hirsch, a first-generation American, tells Jewish News that his life and philanthropic mission were inspired many years ago after reading the book "Man's Search for Meaning," written by Viktor Frankl, a renowned psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor.
"Frankl saw concentration camp prisoners who had nothing, yet gave their few crumbs to total strangers. He realized that more important than food and water was to have meaning in your life. That's how I got into this. I asked, 'How do I develop meaning in my life?' My view of tzedakah is that it gives you a purpose and a meaning and it makes you feel good and that's why you do it. It's not about happiness of the beneficiary; it's about happiness of the giver."
Partners with ASU
Hirsch, an alumnus of Arizona State University's law school, found a close kinship several years ago with ASU's Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management, which was founded in 1999. Nonprofit studies at ASU got its start about 30 years ago, according to ASU associate professor Robert Ashcraft, the center's founder and director. (Visit nonprofit.asu.edu)
"Jerry was at the center's launch (in 1999)," recalls Ashcraft. "We're about knowledge and tools that increase the leadership, management and effectiveness of nonprofits. So we were doing a lot of things that captured Jerry's attention."
Last year, the Lodestar Foundation made a $5 million donation to the center, the largest donation in its history. In recognition of the contribution, the center was renamed the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation. The center broadly defines philanthropy as "voluntary action for the common good through the giving of time, money and know-how to causes that people care about," according to Ashcraft.
Outreach to nonprofits
Although the center has offered its arsenal of research, continuing education and technical assistance to professional and lay leaders in the local nonprofit world for nearly 10 years, many have not yet availed themselves of the center's expertise, including Jewish communal agencies.
In addition to offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in nonprofit leadership and management, the center provides endless opportunities, many at little to no cost, to help nonprofit leaders strive for more effective and efficient organizations.
Examples of helpful research include the center's "Executive Director Compensation" report and the "Arizona Nonprofits: Scope of the Sector" study. Technical assistance includes such options as the online "Ask a nonprofit specialist" and a self-assessment program to determine the effectiveness of a nonprofit.
Complementing the center's mission, the Lodestar Foundation has supported numerous nonprofits seeking to make their agencies more effective. The 2007 merger of the northern and southern Arizona affiliates of Planned Parenthood to form a more streamlined Planned Parenthood Arizona is one of many illustrations.
The foundation's $3 million grant to assist the homeless at the Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix, which opened in 2005, is an example of a collaborative effort that located the county's primary agencies serving the homeless in one place. The Lodestar Day Resource Center allows homeless clients access to important services such as food, shelter, health and dental care, and employment.
Helping Jewish nonprofits
Hirsch, who is a past chairman of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix board, says it's a "legitimate question to ask why more in the Jewish community have not taken advantage of the Lodestar Center."
To encourage Jewish communal involvement, the Lodestar Foundation has recently committed to providing scholarships to Jewish agencies to cover 50 percent of their fees to attend particular training programs offered by the center, according to Stuart Turgel, JCF president. Although details are yet to be worked out with ASU, Turgel hopes that the center's programs can be held at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale.
"Jerry recognizes that the Jewish community needs help but he doesn't want to duplicate efforts," says Turgel. "He wants and we want to collaborate. We all want stronger, better, smarter Jewish agencies."
One Jewish organization that has benefited from the center is Temple Solel in Paradise Valley. Last fall, the temple's board participated in a daylong retreat focused on the topic of "Effective, Motivated Board of Directors," led by the center's Patricia Lewis, an ASU faculty associate and immediate past president and chief executive officer of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives.
"It was a great seminar," says Becky Lieberman, Solel's incoming board president. "I highly recommend it. The session was tailored to our needs. Nonprofit boards don't interact as peers so you don't know what other boards are doing. We learned a lot about emerging and best practices and trends. It helped us to undertake a bylaws revision and to restructure our committees."
Hirsch hopes that Jewish organizations will consider the Lodestar foundation's recently announced $250,000 "Collaboration Prize," which recognizes the collaborative efforts of two or more nonprofits. The nomination deadline is July 21. Visit thecollaborationprize.org.
Global impact
"Lodestar Foundation has had a fingerprint over all kinds of issues and causes all across the Valley and globally," says Ashcraft. Hirsch has traveled the world visiting places such as Azerbaijan, Iran, Cuba and the Middle East to learn about and support diverse philanthropic causes.
"One reason I've traveled around the world is because we've had a lot of difficulty accomplishing our mission here in Phoenix," says Hirsch. "I wouldn't mind doing it all in Phoenix."
During his global quests, Hirsch has had some interesting experiences relating to Judaism. He recalls a trip to Mumbai, India, where the foundation was involved in a project with American Jewish World Service to help protect the rights of women.
"I was amazed to find out that there were 14 synagogues in Mumbai," says Hirsch. "When I went to visit one near my hotel, I opened up a prayer book. I noticed that one side was in Hebrew and the other side was Farsi. On the inside cover it said in English that it was donated by some congregation in Hoboken, N.J. It sort of brings the whole world together just reading that prayer book."
Hirsch is constantly amazed at the thousands of lives that have been changed through effective philanthropy. "I think about the phrase from the Talmud, 'He who saves one life, is as if he saved the universe,'" shares Hirsch. "You just don't have the same feeling after you finish a business deal."
