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An overview of what we do, who we support, and the programs we offer to individuals, organizations and remarkable grassroots leaders.

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DISCOVER a remarkable grassroots

leader

ASK them what tools

they need to improve their

community

DEFINE a specific projectCONNECT with their

community, Beanstalk’s network, and supporting

partners

1 2

34

5ADDRESS local

need effectively and personally while

building community involvement

Remarkable leaders with engaged communities

A Simple Idea

By involving the Community, Beanstalk, and Partners, everyone can make a personally significant contribution

The Beanstalk system is based around three types of contributions. Beanstalk or a supporting organization contributes a Seed Grant that functions as a vote of confidence

for the Garden and gets the ball rolling on fundraising. During the fundraising period, individuals from the Gardener’s community and the Beanstalk network contribute funds

to the Garden. The Garden partners with a local company or an organization interested in the project who offers a Matching Grant to leverage the community’s input.

By pairing community donations with Seed and Matching grants, everyone can give a personally significant contribution toward a meaningful impact.

Donation Matching

[ ]Seed Grant$1,000 3 x $4,000

$3,000

$4,000 + =$12,000 $16,000

CommunityContribution

+ +3:1 Matching

Grant

=

Beanstalk Foundationa nonprofit organization

303.592.4907www.friendsofbeanstalk.org

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It’s different with Beanstalk

Beanstalk presents you with an array of highly qualified grassroots leaders, all of whom have gone through our extensive Gardener Approval process. You have the opportunity to choose where and how to get involved with the confidence that your contributions are having a real impact.

Additionally, donations to Gardens are allocated very specifically. Our goal is to fund discrete projects rather than contribute to the general operating budget of an organization. By combining donor choice, donation matching, accountability and exceptional leadership, Beanstalk makes your contribution count.

Beanstalk supports Gardeners with and without a formal 501(c)(3) status because we believe in the power of remarkable grassroots leadership. It can be nearly impossible for individuals working in their communities to find grants and accept tax-deductible donations. Working with Beanstalk, Gardeners get accounting, legal, and community-building support, leaving them free to focus on addressing the needs in their neighborhoods.

Thirty years of building businesses and fifteen years of nonprofit experience have taught us that remarkable people make great things happen. Leaders who are resourceful, magnetic and selfless can mobilize their communities to address local needs effictively.

Meet remarkable leaders.

Choose how to get involved.

Make friends and make a difference.

Climb On

A Unique Approach

Remarkable grassroots leaders are the key to leveraged philanthropy

Sister Tesa Fitzgerald founded Hour Children in 1995 in Long Island, NY to provide safe housing for mothers returning to their children after incarceration. Hour Children now has five residences housing 45 families and has helped over 7,000 people confront the difficulties of reintegration.

The organization offers job training, a thrift shop, family counseling services, and a number of other services that make life easier for mothers rebuilding their families.

Deb Deverell has initiated a program in which she brings students from Vail Mountain School to Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Southwest Colorado. At Crow Canyon students participate in the excavation of 700-year-old Pueblo city. In addition to taking an active role in the excavation and research, Deb has organized a program in which her students convene with modern-day Pueblo students and the two groups share the culture and stories of the ancient Pueblo people, adding a cultural dimension to their scientific studies.

Susan Stocks has been a child advocate in several Colorado counties over the last four years. In an effort to make the holidays a bit more normal for her clients, Susan started Brunch With a Purpose, an annual gathering of friends and family in which guests bring gifts from the children’s wish lists. In 2009, Beanstalk worked with the program to sponsor 36 children, three foster parents, and a number of additional families through a local drug court.

Jim Tolstrup is Director of the High Plains Environmental Center and has overseen the development and conservation of a “living laboratory” within the Centerra development

in Loveland, CO. Suburbitat, as it is known, is a model for community development where shops, homes, restaurants, and businesses coexist with wetlands, bird habitat, and farmland. Most recently, Beanstalk has worked with Jim to build a garden demonstrating

the diversity of Colorado grasslands.

Anne Sneed started the East High Angel Foundation in 2001 to aid financially challenged students at East High, Denver’s most socio-economically diverse high school.

The program provides students the opportunity to work to purchase class materials including calculators, textbooks, and bus passes. A strong focus on attendance makes the

Angel Foundation one of the most effective programs of its kind.

Beanstalk’s Gardeners

Beanstalk Foundationa nonprofit organization

303.592.4907www.friendsofbeanstalk.org

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Business Leaders

Community Members

Offer grants to sponsor Beanstalk Gardens

• Connect with your local community

• Enhance your brand

Work with BCARE (Building Community Around Remarkable Employees) to select Gardeners from your organization

• Engage your team and boost morale

• Build a brand of excellence and generosity

Join the Friends of Beanstalk Network

• Keep in touch with Gardeners, projects, and your community

• Find projects in your neighborhood

• Sign on at www.friendsofbeanstalk.org to create a profile

Donate to a Garden

• Gardeners depend on community support to make their projects a reality, donate online or send in a check!

Contribute to Beanstalk

• Help us to identify more remarkable local leaders and build community from the ground up climb on

Getting Involved

Meet remarkable people, choose how to get involved, make friends and make a difference

Beanstalk Foundationa nonprofit organization

303.592.4907www.friendsofbeanstalk.org

climb on

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Beanstalk’s founder, Ted Stolberg is inspired as a young man by his Uncle Vernon Rich. A soldier in World War II, Uncle Vern was a man of extraordinary caring and passionate generosity. He planted the early seeds for Beanstalk.

Ted establishes Stolberg Equity Partners, a for-profit investment firm established on the belief that highly capable managers can make good companies into great companies. During the last 17 years, Stolberg has generated 52% return from the growth of 35 companies.

The Stolberg family establishes the Children’s Seedling Fund, a private family foundation dedicated to addressing issues faced by women and children. The model is based on Stolberg Equity Partners’ model of “people first” investment, discovering and partnering with remarkable grassroots leaders, who would come to be known as Gardeners. Over the course of fifteen years, the Children’s Seedling Fund gives 264 Gardener Grants worth approximately $566,000. Gardener grants fund schools, cleft palate surgeries, programs for incarcerated mothers, and many other solutions to community need, all informed by those who know them best, Gardeners.

Forbes Magazine publishes “The Frugal Philanthropist,” detailing Ted’s work with the Children’s Seedling Fund and the incredible effectiveness of small, directed grants.

Growing from the Children’s Seedling Fund model, The Beanstalk Foundation is recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity.

Beanstalk launches its website, www.friendsofbeanstalk.org, a social network for Gardeners and their communities. The site gives Gardeners the means to communicate with advisors, build community and find partners while coordinating fundraising campaigns.

Our Roots

The best way to know where we’re going is to see where we’ve been

BCARE: Building Community Around Remarkable Employees A turnkey model for relevant and effective organizational philanthropy  

If  you  would  like  to   Recognize  staff  members  contributing  to  your  community   Promote  generosity  within  your  employee  bases   Build  positive  brand  recognition  and  a  more  loyal  customer  base   Increase  employee  job  satisfaction  and  retention   Connect  with  your  local  community   Leverage  a  small  capital  investment  for  a  large  return  

 The  BCARE  Program  integrates  Beanstalk’s  model  of  selecting  exceptional  grassroots  leaders  with  companies’  need  for  engaged  employees,  a  strong  local  presence,  and  a  meaningful  workplace.  By  recognizing  the  members  of  your  staff  doing  great  work  in  their  local  communities,  the  BCARE  Program  empowers  them  to  expand  their  grassroots  philanthropic  projects  while  engaging  their  networks  of  support.    Companies  and  organizations  who  integrate  the  BCARE  Program  into  their  philanthropic  programs  empower  their  employees,  create  a  positive  brand  image,  apply  their  unique  skills  to  real  local  issues,  and  allocate  capital  to  projects  with  low  overhead  and  high  social  return.    If  this  sounds  like  a  good  fit  for  your  organization,  we  encourage  you  to  contact  us  by  telephone  at  (303)  592-­‐4907  or  email  blake@friendsofbeanstalk.org.  BCARE  gives  you  the  tools  to  make  a  difference  by  investing  in  your  brand,  investing  in  your  staff,  and  becoming  a  better  neighbor.        

 What are Beanstalk Gardeners?

The power of incredible leaders

Fifteen  years  of  nonprofit  experience  and  thirty  years  of  private  equity  investing  have  taught  us  that  exceptional  leaders  make  big  things  happen.  Resourceful,  energizing,  and  magnetic  individuals  mobilize  the  people  around  them  to  achieve  great  things.  At  Beanstalk,  we  call  remarkable  local  leaders  Gardeners,  because  they  grow  community  and  cultivate  real  change.  Beanstalk  Gardeners  come  in  many  varieties,  but  there  are  a  few  defining  traits  to  help  you  identify  them.  

Remarkable  leaders  working  to  improve  their  communities  

Though  they  are  not  always  easy  to  identify,  Gardeners  tend  to  share  a  set  of  characteristics.  Sometimes  we  like  to  say  that  they’re  whimsical  and  practical,  with  their  heads  in  the  sky  and  their  hands  in  the  dirt.  Gardeners  are  also  experienced,  and  have  often  put  a  decade  or  more  into  improving  their  communities.  Finally,  Gardeners  have  extensive  and  dedicated  bases  of  support,  and  are  looking  to  improve  their  ability  to  grow  their  community  to  do  bigger  and  bigger  projects.  Beanstalk  selects  Gardeners  based  on  all  of  these  qualities,  in  addition  to  the  “intangibles,”  the  character  and  generosity  of  real  local  heroes.    

What does Beanstalk look for when selecting Gardeners?

To  understand  what  makes  a  Gardener  a  Gardener,  let’s  meet  some.  

In   1995,   Sister   Tesa   Fitzgerald   founded  Hour   Children,   which   provides  safe  housing  to  children  and  their  formerly  incarcerated  mothers  in  Long  Island,   New   York.   Hour   Children   now   has   five   residences   housing   45  families   and   has   helped   over   7,000   people   confront   the   difficulties   of  reintegration  into  the  community.  The  organization  offers  job  training,  a  thrift  shop,  family  counseling,  and  a  number  of  other  services  for  mothers  rebuilding  their  families.  

In  2001,  Anne  Sneed  started  the  East  High  Angel  Foundation,  a  program  intended   to   aid   financially   challenged   students   at   East   High,   Denver’s  most   socio-­‐economically   diverse   high   school.   The   program   provides  students  the  opportunity  to  work  to  purchase  class  materials   including  calculators,   textbooks,   and   bus   passes.   A   strong   focus   on   attendance  makes  the  Angel  Foundation  one  of   the  most  effective  programs  of   its  kind.  

The BCARE ProcessBCARE is about building community within your staff and around your

brand, so we evolve the process to meet your needs and fit your culture.

Establish a Point-of-ContactThis person may be the CEO, Human Resources

representative or a departmental head. The Point-of-Contact will be the internal champion of the BCARE model

and will work directly with the Beanstalk staff.

Collect Gardener NominationsTogether we will tailor a process to collect nominations

from your organization. This step allows you to see all of the amazing work being done by your staff in your community.

Review the candidates and select a Gardener Between Beanstalk and selected members of your staff

we will review the nominees and select individuals whose philanthropic goals align with your organization’s vision.

Review the Gardener and define a projectWe collaborate with you to ensure that the candidate fits our

collective vision, and run background checks to make sure there are no surprises. Then we will work to define a discrete

project with a timeline and specific fundraising goal.

Launch the Garden and FundraiseConnect with the Gardener’s community to raise funds

for the project while utilizing social networking, an email campaign, traditional media, and events.

Follow up and celebrate successGet transparent results, dollar-for-dollar accounting, and outreach

to your local community. This is your chance to recognize a remarkable member of your staff, engage your local community, and create a culture of generosity and collaboration in your staff.

Climb on!

The Future of PhilanthropyWe have built the Beanstalk model around the needs of Gardeners, business

leaders, and community members. See what the best minds in the country say about the future of philanthropy.

This article is made available with compliments of FSG Social Impact. Further posting, copying ordistributing is copyright infringement. To order more copies go to www.hbr.org or call 800-988-0886.

www.hbr.org

The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy

by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer

Most companies feel compelled to give to charity. Few have figured out how to do it well.

Reprint R0212D

“Indeed, we are learning that the most effective method of addressing many of the world’s pressing problems is often to mobilize the corporate sector in ways that benefit both society and companies” (3)

The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer, December 2002

“Philanthropy can often be the most cost-effective way—and sometimes the only way—to improve competitive context. It enables companies to leverage not only their own resources but also the existing efforts and infrastructure of nonprofits and other institutions. Contributing to a university, for example, may be a far less expensive way to strengthen a local base of advanced skills in a company’s field than developing training in-house. And philanthropy is amenable to collective corporate action, enabling costs to be spread over multiple companies. Finally, because of philanthropy’s wide social benefits, companies are often able to forge partnerships with nonprofit organizations and governments that would be wary of collaborating on efforts that solely benefited a particular company” (5-6).

Please note that gray areas reflect artwork that hasbeen intentionally removed. The substantive contentof the article appears as originally published.

The Keys to RethinkingCorporate Philanthropy

FALL 2005 VOL.47 NO.1

REPRINT NUMBER 47111

Heike Bruch and Frank Walter

SMR186

The Keys to Rethinking Corporate PhilanthropyHeike Bruch and Frank Walter, Fall 2005 Vol. 47 No. 1

“Typically, there are four common approaches to corporate philanthropy efforts. Strategic philanthropy, an approach that is often most effective, is characterized by a combination of strong external (market) and internal (competence) orientations. It balances the needs of beneficiaries with the skills and competencies of the organization” (51).

FALL 2005 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 51

areas, they can utilize their unique expertise instead of merely

relying on financial resources.

Some companies combine an external, or market, orientation

with an internal, or competence, orientation, while others focus

on just one perspective on corporate philanthropy. Still others do

not adopt a strategic orientation toward their philanthropic

activities at all. The desired degree of internal and external orien-

tation indicates one of four specific approaches to corporate

charitable activities: peripheral philanthropy, constricted philan-

thropy, dispersed philanthropy and strategic philanthropy. (See

“Four Types of Corporate Philanthropy.”)

Peripheral Philanthropy Companies that practice what we call

peripheral philanthropy have charitable initiatives that are

mainly driven by external demands and stakeholder expectations.

Most such companies see corporate philanthropy as a means to

better position themselves within their competitive environment.

Their philanthropic engagement is usually unrelated to their core

activities, but they are attempting to translate positive reputation

effects into concrete bottom-line impacts.

The strategic consequences of peripheral philanthropy are

mixed. Companies may be able to reap benefits from enhanced

reputation. Their philanthropic image may help stimulate cus-

tomer demand for their products and services. Also, they may

improve their ability to attract and retain qualified employees or

enjoy lessened public and regulatory scrutiny. However, periph-

eral philanthropic activities often do not tap a company’s core

competencies, may lack credibility and may appear superficial.

Companies may end up engaging in charitable activities in a wide

array of fields with contributions that are hardly distinctive.

On the other extreme, some companies design their peripheral

philanthropy very comprehensively. Such companies risk confus-

ing and impairing their business focus. Their social initiatives can

distract both monetary and managerial resources from the busi-

ness’s core activities and can contribute to strategic ambiguity.

Consider the case of the Indian steel producer Tata Steel Ltd.,

based in Jamshedpur, India.5 Founded in 1907, Tata Steel acquired

a strong philanthropic heritage from its charismatic founder, Jam-

setji Nusserwan Tata, who ran his business with a strong sense of

social responsibility for the Indian nation’s welfare. As a result,

Tata Steel pioneered many employee welfare measures in India,

introducing the general eight-hour working day in 1912, free

medical treatment in 1915, maternity benefits in 1928 and a pen-

sion system in 1989. Tata Steel also virtually ran the city of

Jamshedpur. The company provided a wide array of services,

including water and power supply, landscaping, street sweeping

and civil construction work. Tata Steel ran hospitals, schools and

a college with 30,000 students. For many years, these far-reaching

social welfare practices substantially enhanced Tata Steel’s reputa-

tion and provided the company with significant advantages. It was

able to attract and retain the talent necessary for its continued

success, even though the area around Jamshedpur provided little

infrastructure. In addition, the company enjoyed excellent labor-

management relations and was spared from strikes for decades.

Tata Steel was also able to create an enormous level of satisfaction

and loyalty among its workforce.

However, in the early 1990s, the typical problems of periph-

eral philanthropy started overshadowing its benefits. Tata Steel’s

wide array of noncore activities impaired the company’s ability

to focus on the core steel business. As one of the company’s vice

presidents put it, “Tata Steel realized that it was necessary to

review its approaches to the sustenance of its business and to the

great social responsibility that was on its shoulders. The problem

was how to grow into an efficient world-class business corpora-

tion without losing the image of a socially conscious employer.”

The company’s philanthropic activities were widespread but

stategically ambiguous, and this was eventually viewed as an

impediment to future growth. These developments threatened

to erode Tata Steel’s position in the marketplace and put its very

existence at risk.

Tata Steel suffered from inefficiency, and the company’s over-

sized workforce boosted payroll costs. By the early 1990s, Tata

Steel’s payroll peaked at 78,000 employees, almost 10% of whom

worked providing services for the town or medical services. The

drawbacks of Tata Steel’s approach to corporate philanthropy

became obvious after the liberalization of the Indian economy in

1991 led to increased competition. Top management at Tata Steel

suggested far-reaching changes, including massive workforce

reductions and a substantial redesign of the company’s social

welfare programs.

Market Orientation

Peripheral Philanthropy

Strategic Philanthropy

Constricted Philanthropy

Competence Orientation

High

Low

Low High

Dispersed Philanthropy

Typically, there are four common approaches to corporate phi-

lanthropy efforts. Strategic philanthropy, an approach that is

often most effective, is characterized by a combination of

strong external (market) and internal (competence) orienta-

tions. It balances the needs of beneficiaries with the skills and

competencies of the organization.

Four Types of Corporate Philanthropy

“The most effective approach to corporate philanthropy, which we call strategic philanthropy, integrates an internal and an external perspective. It applies the same professional management principles to corporate philanthropy as to any other field of business operations. Executives align philanthropic efforts with the core competencies of their companies, thus using the company’s unique abilities to benefit society. However, they also take into account stakeholder and market expectations so that the company may benefit from the effect of its philanthropic activities in the marketplace. Companies with this approach to corporate philanthropy achieve sustainable results with regard to both their stakeholders’ needs and their own competitive advantage. While providing substantial benefits for society, they can gain opportunities to learn how to apply their core competencies in new business areas, boost their employees’ intrinsic motivation, stimulate customer demand and enhance their attractiveness in the labor market. They maintain and even strengthen their identity by aligning their social engagement with the overall company mission and vision” (53).

Beanstalk Foundationa nonprofit organization

(303) 592.4907

www.friendsofbeanstalk.org