Taller, Better
October 4th, 2009, 07:50 PM
I wish there were more folk like this. link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/schulich-exhorts-rich-canadians-to-dig-deeper/article1310902/
Schulich exhorts rich Canadians to dig deeper
Toronto businessman donates $20-million to Dalhousie law school; has given $250-million to support higher education
Elizabeth Church
From Saturday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009 03:32AM EDT
Seymour Schulich, the Toronto businessman who has peppered campuses with faculties that carry his name, is giving to higher education once again, and causing a commotion in the process by suggesting some rich Canadians aren't pulling their weight.
Mr. Schulich further cemented his reputation as a major supporter of Canadian campuses yesterday with the official announcement of a $20-million gift to Dalhousie law school, which will be named in his honour.
But as the rumours of the donation filtered out in recent weeks, his generosity has been overshadowed by remarks about the giving habits of some wealthy Maritimers.
“There is an elephant in the room. It's hard to ignore,” Mr. Schulich said, in a recent interview after his comments made headlines in the local press. Mr. Schulich, long known for encouraging others to give, said his observations were not meant to apply to the general population, but to a handful of individuals who “punch way below their weight.”
It's an episode that raises questions about the nature of philanthropy in Canada and the giving habits of the richest generation on record that is now entering retirement age.
Toronto philanthropist Jim Fleck said that, given the beating many took in the market in the past year, it's not surprising some may find it tough to open their wallets. Still, he said, fundraising efforts sometimes remind him of the final scene in Casablanca where they “round up the usual suspects.”
The habit of giving, he said, is something Canadians need to cultivate.
“Some think they are going to be able to take it with them.”
Nicholas Offord, a fundraising consultant, said that a culture of giving is developing, and he sees more large donors becoming active as the boomer population ages and stocks rebound. “We are going to see more of these transformative gifts,” he predicted.
He also cautioned that some donors stay under the radar because they give smaller amounts to several organizations or make their contributions anonymously. “We have to be careful in urging people to step up to the plate and recognize that everybody does it in their own way.”
Statistics Canada research shows that while the percentage of Canadians who made donations remained constant between 2007 and 2004, the average size of gifts increased.
It also shows that the top 10 per cent of donors accounted for more than half of all giving.
Education and research received about 2 per cent of all gifts in 2007, the same level as sports and recreation and the environment. All Atlantic provinces had rates of giving above the national average, but the largest average donation levels were in Alberta.
Mr. Schulich, who by his own estimate has given about $250-million to higher education over the past 15 years, said the Dalhousie donation is part of a system that aims to transform a chosen faculty with a multimillion-dollar gift. He gives only one major donation to any one discipline or to a particular city, although he may support other smaller initiatives.
So far he has supported business in Toronto, medicine and dentistry in London, Ont., engineering in Calgary and music in Montreal, as well as chemistry – his first area of study – in Haifa. Next up is a gift to a faculty of education, he said, with another one likely the next year.
“There is no question this will give us by far the greatest level of financial support for students of any law school in Canada,” Dalhousie president Tom Traves said yesterday.
He estimated that about half the school's students will receive some form of support.
Mr. Shulich said he picked Dalhousie partly because of his wife's ties to Halifax and his work in the East Coast when he began a career in the financial community. He hopes his gift will attract students and faculty and trigger other donations.
“Look, I have had a lot of good fortune and a lot of luck,” he said, explaining why he gives extensively to Canadian campuses. “It is a method where people that are wealthy can do two things – they can create a legacy, and they can divert their money to things they think are important and reduce their tax bill doing it.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/schulich-exhorts-rich-canadians-to-dig-deeper/article1310902/
Schulich exhorts rich Canadians to dig deeper
Toronto businessman donates $20-million to Dalhousie law school; has given $250-million to support higher education
Elizabeth Church
From Saturday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009 03:32AM EDT
Seymour Schulich, the Toronto businessman who has peppered campuses with faculties that carry his name, is giving to higher education once again, and causing a commotion in the process by suggesting some rich Canadians aren't pulling their weight.
Mr. Schulich further cemented his reputation as a major supporter of Canadian campuses yesterday with the official announcement of a $20-million gift to Dalhousie law school, which will be named in his honour.
But as the rumours of the donation filtered out in recent weeks, his generosity has been overshadowed by remarks about the giving habits of some wealthy Maritimers.
“There is an elephant in the room. It's hard to ignore,” Mr. Schulich said, in a recent interview after his comments made headlines in the local press. Mr. Schulich, long known for encouraging others to give, said his observations were not meant to apply to the general population, but to a handful of individuals who “punch way below their weight.”
It's an episode that raises questions about the nature of philanthropy in Canada and the giving habits of the richest generation on record that is now entering retirement age.
Toronto philanthropist Jim Fleck said that, given the beating many took in the market in the past year, it's not surprising some may find it tough to open their wallets. Still, he said, fundraising efforts sometimes remind him of the final scene in Casablanca where they “round up the usual suspects.”
The habit of giving, he said, is something Canadians need to cultivate.
“Some think they are going to be able to take it with them.”
Nicholas Offord, a fundraising consultant, said that a culture of giving is developing, and he sees more large donors becoming active as the boomer population ages and stocks rebound. “We are going to see more of these transformative gifts,” he predicted.
He also cautioned that some donors stay under the radar because they give smaller amounts to several organizations or make their contributions anonymously. “We have to be careful in urging people to step up to the plate and recognize that everybody does it in their own way.”
Statistics Canada research shows that while the percentage of Canadians who made donations remained constant between 2007 and 2004, the average size of gifts increased.
It also shows that the top 10 per cent of donors accounted for more than half of all giving.
Education and research received about 2 per cent of all gifts in 2007, the same level as sports and recreation and the environment. All Atlantic provinces had rates of giving above the national average, but the largest average donation levels were in Alberta.
Mr. Schulich, who by his own estimate has given about $250-million to higher education over the past 15 years, said the Dalhousie donation is part of a system that aims to transform a chosen faculty with a multimillion-dollar gift. He gives only one major donation to any one discipline or to a particular city, although he may support other smaller initiatives.
So far he has supported business in Toronto, medicine and dentistry in London, Ont., engineering in Calgary and music in Montreal, as well as chemistry – his first area of study – in Haifa. Next up is a gift to a faculty of education, he said, with another one likely the next year.
“There is no question this will give us by far the greatest level of financial support for students of any law school in Canada,” Dalhousie president Tom Traves said yesterday.
He estimated that about half the school's students will receive some form of support.
Mr. Shulich said he picked Dalhousie partly because of his wife's ties to Halifax and his work in the East Coast when he began a career in the financial community. He hopes his gift will attract students and faculty and trigger other donations.
“Look, I have had a lot of good fortune and a lot of luck,” he said, explaining why he gives extensively to Canadian campuses. “It is a method where people that are wealthy can do two things – they can create a legacy, and they can divert their money to things they think are important and reduce their tax bill doing it.”