When skeptics suggested canceling a hedge fund–sponsored benefit this month for needy women and children in New York, organizers revamped the program to make it a better fit for tough times.
“It was hard; people didn’t want to open their pocketbooks,†reports Tracy McHale Stuart, CEO of New York–based Corbin Capital Partners and one of the driving forces behind the fourth annual Casino Night, the flagship fundraiser for the High Water Women Foundation. So the cost of participation came down.
The group lowered the entry fee for the Black Jack and Texas Hold ’Em tournaments, for instance, to $1,000 from last year’s $2,000. Admission to the April 2 benefit could be had for as little as $250 (for after-dinner entry), though donors were welcome to buy the $100,000 unlimited access pass (no takers this year). Full access for ten people was $7,500; last year it was $15,000.
The group raised $542,000, well off 2008’s record-breaking $810,000, but a respectable showing for a recession event, says Kathleen Kelley, founder and co-chairman of High Water Women, a 2,200-member philanthropy founded in 2005. About 450 hedge fund professionals and their friends showed up this year.
Still, the group is struggling to meet the need it sees. Thirteen charities have applied for funds, up from nine in 2008, and it will be difficult for the foundation to fill every pot, members say. Kelley, a global macro manager at Kingdon Capital in New York, says the organization’s strategy rests in part on creating a personal bond between donors and recipients.
“We’re an organization focused on volunteerism,†she says. “Even if donors give less than last year, they want to keep the relationship.†Among the charities High Water supports is Inwood House, a 178-year-old Upper East Side group that provides teen pregnancy counseling, youth development and family support to more than 8,000 people per year. Members also gather every year to fill back-to-school book bags with goods for underprivileged children. The holiday season brings a Secret Santa project that is popular with the group’s members.
Given this year’s constraints, event planners had to be more creative than usual.The gate got a big boost from two big-ticket prize auctioned off by former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann. They included a 16-seat box for a game at the new Yankee stadium, donated by former Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Ray Chambers. The second item: a New Zealand vacation package contributed by Jay Robertson, son of Tiger Management Corp. founder Julian Robertson Jr. A “donation buffet†table highlighted each of the group’s 13 philanthropic partners. It raised $10,845, much of it from a member who persuaded her hedge fund employer — who requested anonymity — to donate $500 to each of the 13 charities.
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