Local Foundation helps families establish charitable fund in Mom’s name

April 30, 2009, Oakland, CA – When long-time Piedmont school teacher Lois Blair Rawlings died in December of 1998, her son, Kenneth Blair Rawlings, and her granddaughter, Kimberly Blair Rawlings, knew exactly how they wanted to honor her: a charitable fund to help local school teachers.

So they established the "Lois Blair Rawlings Education Fund" at the East Bay Community Foundation in early 1999. Since that time, the Fund has given dozens of grants – grants that are awarded near Mother’s Day.

And with Mother’s Day right around the corner, sons and daughters are wondering how best to celebrate their Mom.

Particularly in these tough economic times, lavish material gifts may seem inappropriate or superficial. More and more, daughters and sons are making charitable contributions to organizations that are close to their mothers’ hearts in lieu of the traditional flowers and brunch.

A Fund for Mom

Some families who can afford it are going even further, establishing a charitable fund in Mom’s name -- whether living or deceased -- to benefit causes special to her.

"Dad wanted to honor Grandma’s teaching career," says Kimberly Rawlings, a color design consultant now living in Mill Valley. "She lived and taught in Piedmont for decades. He got family and friends together to brainstorm and we came up with the idea of establishing a fund that would award $5,000 grants to teachers, athletic coaches, tutors and school administrators. Recipients give half the grant to an educational program they believe in and they keep the other half."

The East Bay Community Foundation is offering a "Mother’s Day Fund" that makes it easy to set up a charitable fund and receive assistance in the grant making process.

Mothers around the country have already benefited from their children’s philanthropic generosity:

• In Michigan, one son set up a charitable fund in memory of his mother’s lifelong love for people and music.
• In Virginia, a sister and brother established a scholarship fund for their recently deceased mother, a Greek immigrant who never finished high school.
• In Minnesota, four daughters and sons opened a scholarship fund for girls on behalf of their mother, who turned 100 on April 19.
• In Louisiana, three sons opened a charitable fund honoring their living mother and in memory of their deceased father.
• In Washington, four sons and daughters set up a charitable fund to honor their deceased mother and father.

Personal Satisfaction

"Dad and I have derived a great deal of personal satisfaction from being involved with the fund and its grants," said Rawlings, "but we’ve also talked about how great it would have been if we had established this fund while Grandma was alive so she could have been engaged with it."

And that is a point that Nicole Taylor, President & Chief Executive Officer of the East Bay Community Foundation, finds telling.

"It’s a wonderful thing to make a gift to a good cause or open a fund on behalf of your deceased mother,’ says, Taylor, "but it’s even a more wonderful thing to give your living mother the opportunity to be engaged in community grant making. The process is so personally satisfying. Especially for mothers who may have time to offer," said Taylor, "getting involved in charitable giving can open the door to a new interest and a new passion."

We’ve all heard that you can’t buy happiness.

But some research suggests spending money on others yields personal satisfaction. Conducted by social psychologist Elizabeth Dunn at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, three surveys - one using 46 of her students, one on how 16 employees at a Boston company spent their bonuses, and one using 632 people across the United States - all indicated people feel happier spending money on others than on themselves. Dunn believes the surveys confirm that altruistic spending has a significant impact on personal happiness.

Easy to Establish

With a Mother’s Day Fund – which can be opened for as little as $10,000 -- the East Bay Community Foundation manages all the details, including working with Mom to identify her interests, investing the funds, reporting back to Mom on the status of the investments, advising Mom on community needs and organizations doing good work, cutting grant checks, and, if requested, tracking how the grant is being used. Many groups of adult siblings find the initial investment for such a fund is possible if they pool their resources; it also provides an avenue for future gifts for the Mom who seems to have everything.

"The needs in our East Bay communities are significant," said Taylor, "and many East Bay residents are in the fortunate position to give back. Starting a Mother’s Day Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation can benefit the community while enriching the life of the donors and the person it honors. Best of all, a Mother’s Day Fund provides a chance for children to help their mothers create a legacy of which she will always be proud."

Kenneth Blair Rawlings, who founded Otis Spunkmeyer Cookies, and his daughter, Kimberly Blair Rawlings, know this truth on a deeply personal level. "Everything about this fund," she says, "has just given us wonderful feelings."

For more information on establishing a charitable fund for mom, contact Giles Miller, Director of Development, at 510.208.0817, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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