Corporate VP Takes Hard Line On Giving

Ben Waters Capitol Broadcasting Co. Vice President of Administration

Capitol Broadcasting Company Vice President of Administration Ben Waters challenged Triangle companies to step up to the plate in charitable giving at a meeting of the Triangle Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. Waters was the featured speaker for the event, which took place on Thursday, June 15, at the Holiday Inn in Research Triangle Park. Waters fosters his attitude about giving through the many committees on which he serves. He currently is a member of the Executive Committee of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and most recently

The following article by Nonprofitxpress reporter Ann Claycombe chronicles Waters’ philosophy on giving. Nonprofitxpress is funded by the A.J. Fletcher Foundation and is on the web at www.npxress.com

Playing catch-up
Companies can do more
Triangle lags behind rest of state in giving, corporate official says.
By Ann Claycombe

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Triangle-area companies should be more philanthropic, a top corporate official says. "We in the Triangle are woefully behind other areas of our state in corporate giving," W. Ben Waters, vice president for administration at Capitol Broadcasting Company told a recent meeting of the Triangle chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives.

Per-capita corporate giving in the Triangle totals 60 cents, compared to 86 cents in Durham, $3.50 in Charlotte and $4.25 in Winston-Salem, said Waters, who also heads the annual fundraising campaign for United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County. The Triangle also lags in individual giving, he said. Per-capita individual giving totals 57 cents in Raleigh and Durham, compared to $5.37 in Charlotte. "I don't think we should be as far behind Charlotte as we are," Waters said.

A major initiative to boost local giving is the Catalyst Project of the Triangle Community Foundation, Waters said. The 5-year project aims to triple the region’s permanent philanthropic assets to $3 billion. Jim Goodmon, president of Capitol Broadcasting, is meeting with chief executive officers of local companies to help boost the effort, Waters said.

Waters said the growth of out-of-state companies to the Triangle has affected local fundraising efforts because most new business leaders have, are not from the region. He suggested that nonprofits should recruit board members from new companies, and encourage them to get their companies involved.

Another strategy is to pursue stock gifts because many new companies have more stock than cash available for donations, he said.

Reprinted with permission of Nonprofitxpress
(This article first ran on July 5, 2000)