THE GIFT FOUNDATION
Not your parents' philanthropists
A group of young Hawaii executives does good work its own way
ON A RECENT evening at the swank Pacific Club, several members of Hawaii's young business elite gathered for a meeting of sorts.
There at the club were B.J. Kobayashi, the president of the Kobayashi Group; Jeff Arce, chief financial officer of the MacNaughton Group; Kenwei Chong, a partner in E&O Trading Company, and Peter Ho, vice chairman and chief banking officer of Bank of Hawaii.
Although there was nothing remarkable on its face about this high-powered group meeting at a club known as a hub for deal making, the young executives' choice of attire was atypical: They were wearing zebra-print spandex bell-bottom leotards, and wigs.
"Never in a thousand years did I think I would have the likes of Peter Ho ... and Jeff Arce in drag, much less in leotards," said Kobayashi, a founding member of the non-profit GIFT Foundation of Hawaii. "And I guess it speaks to the enthusiasm of this group that they were willing to do that."
(Ho actually wore a retro Adidas warm-up suit and no wig; Arce confirmed that he was in the full costume.)
Three years after its birth, the GIFT Foundation of Hawaii has grown into a force in Oahu's philanthropic community, raising approximately $200,000, which it has given away in the form of grants to fledgling non-profit organizations.
The foundation's board, meanwhile, has attracted some of Honolulu's most accomplished young professionals, many of them Gen-Xers who have brought youthful verve to a world often inhabited by blue-haired socialites.
The foundation's name is an acronym, Giving Inspiration For Tomorrow, and a main source for handing out inspiration is the group's annual Halloween party, which the organization bills as "not your parents' fundraiser." The theme of this year's party was "Boogie Nights: Halloween Gone Wild," which explains the disco-era costumes. Women of the board wore short skirts and go-go boots. Adding to the festive atmosphere were table-top go-go dancers. And the winners of the grand prize drawing were whisked away from the party immediately, driven to the airport and put on a plane to Las Vegas in their costumes.
"There's something at this party for everybody," said Jon McManus, a GIFT Foundation board member who is managing partner of Bay West Properties, a real estate development firm based in Honolulu and San Francisco. "What other benefit can you go to and see the leaders of the community dressed in drag?"
Kobayashi acknowledges that many people who come to the fundraiser -- and pay $100 a head to attend -- are less interested in the public good than in the party's promise of booze and debauchery. But Kobayashi said that hasn't diminished from the event's impact.
Earlier this month, the GIFT Foundation board handed an $80,000 check to Ohia Productions, a non-profit children's theater group that was the beneficiary of the Halloween Party.
Ultimately, the party is doing what board members hope it will do: acting, as Ho puts it, as a lever "to get young people interested and engaged in philanthropy."
"If you boil it down, that's what it's all about," Ho said. "There's a lot of wealth here, and there's a lot of young wealth here, and people ought to be doing some good with it. That's the spirit of the foundation."
To be sure, the GIFT Foundation's directors are hardly the only young people involved in philanthropy. Kelvin Taketa, president and chief executive of the Hawaii Community Foundation, said young people throughout the state are active in philanthropic activities, particularly recent disaster relief projects.
And the GIFT Foundation is far from the state's biggest donor to local nonprofits. Last week, for instance, Hawaiian Telcom gave $700,000 in donations to several dozen non-profits throughout the state, a breadth of largesse that dwarfs what the GIFT Foundation has given out in three years.
Still, the GIFT Foundation has caught peoples' attention.
Connie Lau, president and chief executive of American Savings Bank, is struck by the relative youth of the board members. The average age of the 19-person board is just 37.
"Even though they are early in their careers, they are already beginning to network and to look at ways to increase the funding sources that are available for non-profits in our community," Lau said. "You usually get it from older people who are already established in their careers. This is a group that would normally be concerned about just how to buy a house or send their kids to private school. But in addition to that, these young people are also thinking about how to help the community."
For all of the fun they have with the fundraiser, the GIFT Foundation has a serious side.
"I think they've been very diligent in deciding who will be the beneficiaries of their event," said Taketa, who has acted as an informal mentor to the GIFT Foundation.
"We may be a little inebriated at the event," said Kobayashi, who at one point during the Halloween party turned into a sort of drunken disco pirate, brandishing a toy sword at guests in the VIP room. "But we're not when we make the business decisions."
The foundation has taken an unusual approach to selecting beneficiaries. Unlike many charitable organizations, the GIFT Foundation doesn't require recipients to fill out long formal applications. In fact, the board approaches many of its potential beneficiaries based on references from community leaders such as Taketa, said Nate Smith, a real estate project manager who serves on the foundation's board.
Some nonprofits clearly are not right for the foundation, Smith said. Some are too big to feel much of a boost from the foundation's gifts, Smith said. And others are too small to manage a gift of nearly $100,000. In other cases, a non-profit's mission just isn't quite right, Smith said.
In general, Smith said, the foundation is looking for fledgling non-profits with young, entrepreneurial directors who will be able to quickly put the grants to use helping people. Often, he said, these are groups that couldn't get money elsewhere.
After creating a short list of about a dozen potential recipients, the board interviews almost all of them at length in person, Smith said. That process is more rewarding than the party, Smith said.
"That's the fun part for us and the inspiring part for us," Smith said. "We are in tremendous awe of all the people we short list."
In addition to Ohia Productions, the foundation has awarded grants to College Connections, which helps high school students attend college; a MA'O Farms, an Oahu group which promotes nutrition and sustainable community development through organic farming, and the Positive Coaching Alliance, which trains amateur youth athletic coaches.
These grants have totaled $170,000, and the foundation has provided smaller grants of $2,000 to $5,000 to other organizations that meet the foundation's criteria, said Dawn Dunbar, a board member who is also a corporate communications manager with American Savings Bank.
"It's an amazing amount of money, and we are just totally thrilled to receive this gift," said Holly Richards, Ohia's executive director.
What's next for the GIFT Foundation isn't clear. The organization attracted so many corporate sponsors for its last event that it had to turn some of them down, Dunbar said. The group has received numerous calls from people wanting to volunteer on the board, Arce said. And the event has become one of Honolulu's hottest tickets; last year, the foundation had to quit selling admissions, Arce said.
The board isn't sure it wants to host many more than the 700 people who attended last year's fundraiser, Smith said. But Smith said the foundation also doesn't necessarily want to limit its growth. There's been discussion of holding a second event. But, Smith said, nothing has been decided. Indeed, even the theme of next year's Halloween party is still up in the air.
There does appear to be one thing that is certain about the GIFT Foundation. Its founders want it to stay forever young. Kobayashi reckons that in five years a third of the board's members will be in their 20s. And a decade from now, the current board will have moved on entirely.
"Our goal is to be gone in 10 years," Kobayashi said. "We'd love to be gone in 10 years and have the next generation of young entrepreneurs take over."
THE GIFT FOUNDATION
The group's youth and diversity is reflected in its board of directors:
B.J. Kobayashi
Age: 35
Education: Georgetown University School of Business (BSBA)
Georgetown Law Center (JD)
Occupation: real estate developer - Kobayashi Group, LLC
Sean K. Clark
Age: 35
Education: University of Colorado at Boulder (BS)
University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law (JD)
Occupation: associate attorney - Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel
Dawn Dunbar
Age: 34
Education: Loyola Marymount University (BA), English
Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business (MBA)
Occupation: corporate communications - American Savings Bank
Nate Smith
Age: 36
Education: Univ. of Calif. At San Diego (BA), Urban Planning
Univ. of Hawaii (MA), Architecture
Occupation: architect/project manager - Nate Smith Studio
Kenwei Chong
Age: 37
Education: Boston University (BA), Finance
Occupation: restaurants - E&O Trading Company
Michelle Ho
Age: 33
Education: Boston College (BA)
Occupation: business consulting - Koi Consulting
John C. Bower
Age: 41
Education: Cornell University (BS & MBA)
Occupation: COO, CFO - Hawaii Biotech
Michelle Chillingworth
Age: 29
Education: UC Santa Barbara (BA)
University of Hawaii at Manoa (MEd in Curriculum Studies)
Occupation: owner/personal trainer - Giddy, Specialty Training for Women
Jeff Arce
Age: 47
Education: Claremont McKenna College (BA) Economics
Occupation: partner - The MacNaughton Group
Marc Tilker
Age: 45
Education: Villanova University (BS) Accountancy, School of Commerce and Finance
Occupation: president and CEO - Marathon Group Companies
Donn Takaki
Age: 36
Education: Claremont McKenna College (BA)
University of Virginia (MBA)
Occupation: moving, transportation and logistical services - President, HawkTree International
Jason Nishikawa
Age: 34
Education: Santa Clara University (BS) Civil Engineering
Occupation: vice president, Realtor, Marcus & Associates, Inc.
Peter S. Ho
Age: 40
Education: University of Southern California (BS) Business Administration, (MBA) Corporate Finance
Occupation: vice chairman - Bank of Hawaii
Jeff Dinsmore
Age: 48
Education: University of the Pacific (BS) Business Administration
Occupation: vice president of development, Hawaii region - General Growth Properties
Brad Nicolai
Age: 30
Education: Lorenzo de' Medici University, Florence, Italy
Boston College, (BS) Marketing
University of Hawaii, MBA candidate
Occupation: general manager - Audi of Hawaii
Nedra Manson
Age: 34
Education: University of Hawaii (BS) Nursing
Occupation: mother and community volunteer
Jon McManus
Age: 37
Education: University of California at Davis
Occupation: real estate investment / development - Bay West Equities
Alana Kobayashi Pakkala
Age: 30
Education: Georgetown University (BA) English & Psychology
Occupation: real estate developer - Kobayashi Group, LLC
Lacey Pfeffer
Age: 33
Education: University of South Florida (BA)
Occupation: mother and community volunteer