On Nov. 14, 1986, President Ronald Reagan took the podium in a room crowded with reporters, photographers, and camera operators, ready to make a proclamation about an event five years in the making.
Behind him, Doug Freeman, a young tax attorney, smiled broadly. This was the goal he and dozens of others had labored toward: The president of the United States would officially proclaim a national day of thanks to recognize all of the individuals, families, and companies that donated their time, talent, and treasure to help change lives in the communities around them.
Reagan’s words made it official—from then on, Nov. 15 would be known as National Philanthropy Day.
Since that moment 28 years ago, the observance has become an event celebrated in every state of the Union and in several countries, including Canada and Mexico.
The Business Journal recently met with Freeman, now executive vice president and director of consulting at First Foundation Inc., a financial group in Irvine where he focuses in part on philanthropic outreach.
Writer Kim Haman asked him how he turned a spark of inspiration into an internationally celebrated event. Here’s an edited version of his responses.
What was the inspiration for National Philanthropy Day?
In the winter of 1981, I gave a speech to the major donors at the Walker Museum in Minneapolis. Minneapolis was at that time, and is to this day, one of the most generous communities in the country. In fact, it was in Minneapolis that Dayton-Hudson Corp., now Target Corp., inspired the notion that corporations should donate 5% of their earnings to charity. Bob Dayton put enormous leverage on other business leaders to follow suit, much like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are doing today. Individual philanthropy in the community was enormous, too. As I stood in front of the group that day, I found myself saying thank you—you’ve inspired all of us.
On the airplane on my way home, I thought, ‘Our local communities, our nation as a whole—we don’t say thank you enough to those businesses, corporations, and individuals that have given so much for the benefit of all of us.’ I thought a great way to do this would be to set aside a national day of appreciation. In my mind, it would be a pronouncement by the president.
What went into taking the day from an idea to the national stage where the president recognizes it?
I decided to write a letter to Ed Meese, who had just been selected Reagan’s chief of staff. Now, I had no personal connection with Ed Meese, but I knew a guy who knew a guy. I thought that the letter would be delivered on Wednesday, Ed Meese would call me on Friday, and on Tuesday we would have our day. Needless to say, I didn’t get a call.
In June of that year, I hosted a two-day conference on philanthropy in Newport Beach, attended by the most active and philanthropic leaders in Orange County. I invited Lyn Nofziger, who was Reagan’s political adviser, to speak to our group about the public policy aspects of philanthropy. After, he expressed how impressed he was with the dedication of all the people he met at the conference. I pulled out a copy of my letter to Ed Meese and explained my idea. Nofziger took the letter and promised to do what he could.
Within two weeks, I got a call—he’d set up a meeting with Congressman Jim Coyne, who had just been appointed to a new committee as the director of the Office of Private Sector Initiatives. It was the first time the White House ever organized itself around philanthropy. So there was actually a person who was going to lead the charge in supporting philanthropy.
So I met with Jim Coyne, and he says to me, ‘Great idea!’ But he explained to me that he couldn’t do anything for me. He says, ‘I’m a cheerleader, I’ll cheer you on. But you need to get this passed through Congress. If you do, I’ll do my best to bring the president into any event that celebrates it.’
‘How do I do that?’ I ask him. He replies, ‘You need to get it passed through both the House and Senate. You need to find someone from both houses to be your champion. Once you get it passed, let me know.’ That was all the advice he gave me!
Why at this point didn’t you just let it go?
I am very stubborn! I came back to California and tracked down two individuals: Sen. Pete Wilson and Congressman Dan Lungren. Each of them thought this was a very good idea, and each offered to be its sponsor in their respective house. They had no ability to do anything for me, other than to organize appointments for me. And that’s all I needed.
So I proceeded over the next four years to make 40-some-odd trips to Washington to meet with congressmen and senators and get them to sign on to the bill. The legislation had to be sponsored by 51 senators and a majority of representatives just to be brought to the floor for a vote.
That must have been a huge undertaking, especially with a family and running your own law firm. How did you do it?
I needed a whole group! I put together an organizing committee. The president of the state bar was on it, the manager of the Washington, D.C., Office of Public Policy, too; the president of the National Association for Hospital Development, and many others.
Were these people you knew personally? If not, how did you get them on board?
No, I didn’t know 90% of them. I just hound-dogged them until they melted away! They said, ‘All right, all right, let me alone!’
Mostly, it was about the networking relationships I developed that helped get me to people I needed to see. I also wanted to get the leadership of the major fundraising organizations. The National Society for Fundraising Executives—now known as the National Association of Fundraising Professionals—was an important ally. The president at the time was Dick Wilson. He was a real champion. He made sure that the presidents of the university associations and the hospital associations joined the effort. Those organizations were in the position to open up lots of other doors, because they were at a national level in Washington. So we put together a national organizing committee.
Then I discovered that if I wanted to get a congressman from Oklahoma to sign onto a bill, I had to get a group from Oklahoma to meet with him. He didn’t care what a group from California wanted. What did his constituents want? So I had to organize a committee in every state.
Did you have to raise money, too?
We had to raise about $250,000 a year to cover expenses, travel, to hire a media team—I hired Burson Marstellar. They actually did most of their work pro bono. But there were costs associated with our publicity outreach. I also had wonderful donors who were prepared to step forward and did step forward.
Who were the major donors?
One major donor here in California was a gentleman, one of the great philanthropists in my mind, George Boone. He was a retired dentist who made his money in real estate. He just believed in the notion of gratitude. He was a good friend, a generous man.
What were the major challenges you faced?
It was difficult to find donors. People wanted their money to go to a tangible need, like a sick child or an older person who needed food. I can totally understand that. So we needed to shepherd the money we were given very carefully. Like I said, I took 40-plus trips to Washington. I wrote 4,000 letters—and this was in the days before computers were widely used—they all had to be individualized, typed. I was looking for legislators, I was looking for lobbyists, I was looking for businesses that might help us pro bono.
There were also a lot of legislators who were opposed to any more ‘national days.’ They felt there were just too many. It took four years to get the congressmen and senators on board—and we had elections during those years.
We finally got the legislative approval. We still hadn’t heard from the White House, but I knew we would have our day.”
So now that you knew you’d have the day, what did you do next?
I started thinking about how we would celebrate National Philanthropy Day. I knew we needed a song that would be played at events across the country, a reinforcement of the message. I needed to get a songwriter. Who should I get? I thought, let’s get Marvin Hamlisch. He wrote scores of music for 20 years that resonated with everyone.
Of course, I did not know Marvin Hamlisch—but I knew a guy who knew a guy. I got his phone number, I called him. Two weeks later, we had our song, complete with lyrics, “Now, More Than Ever.”
By the time President Reagan made our day official, there were National Philanthropy Day organizing committees in 40 states. And in each state, the organizing committee began creating new chapters in cities throughout their state. Now we are everywhere!
National Philanthropy Day doesn’t always fall on Nov. 15. It’s really the last two weeks of November, near Thanksgiving.
Are you still involved in the day-to-day operations of the observance, or have you taken a step back?
The Association of Fundraising Professionals took it over in 1989. I felt National Philanthropy Day had real traction and that it was the best organization to help it grow to its full potential. I asked Dick (Wilson) to take charge. He did a great job—AFP continues to do a great job!
I still attend as many NPD events as I can, of course. AFP has stayed faithful to the primary goal: to celebrate philanthropy and highlight the accomplishments of the companies and individuals who have made this world a better place.
How has NPD had a real and measurable impact on giving in the United States?
National Philanthropy Day events help raise awareness about how important it is to invest time and money in a worthwhile cause.
How do you feel about being the person who came up with the idea for this event?
To this day, I feel like the luckiest person on the planet. I’ve had so much support—from my wife Lynn, who managed my law office while I was getting this thing started, to my law partners, who were so supportive, to all the people who put in their energy, time and talent to make National Philanthropy Day a reality.
