During his business career, Charles Bronfman was good at making money. These days he’s even better at giving it away.
As founder of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, Bronfman has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Jewish-themed programs. Among other savvy acts of kindness, Bronfman co-created Birthright Israel, which every year sends thousands of young Jews on their first trip to Israel.
Bronfman didn’t learn the tricks of the philanthropy trade alone, working with his late wife, Andrea, and relying upon the skills of Jeffrey Solomon, who serves as president of Bronfman’s organization.
To share how they developed a businesslike approach to nonprofits, Bronfman and Solomon have written “The Art of Giving,” a how-to and how-not-to book for budding philanthropists.
Both Bronfman and Solomon will talk about their book on Thursday, Dec. 3 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
And when they talk, they will likely throw around words one wouldn’t normally hear in a corporate boardroom. Words like “soul.”
“If something doesn’t reach your soul, it’s not going to be long lasting,” Bronfman, 80, said in an interview when asked about the art of giving, “and your not going to feel passionate.”
Added Solomon, during the joint interview: “Each of us has an essence. There are things inside us that are as personal as a fingerprint. We’re talking about that very personal place that speaks to us, through which philanthropy can be rewarding.”
In their book, Bronfman and Solomon stress the changing nature of philanthropy. The days of simply writing a large check to charity are over. In philanthropy 2.0, it’s all about using one’s head and leveraging one’s charitable dollars.
“What is philanthropy other than investment for good?” Solomon said.
As an example, together they told the story of Nancy Lublin, a woman who inherited $5,000 and, after consulting with Bronfman and Solomon, used it to start Dress for Success. The nonprofit’s mission: provide suitable business attire to disadvantaged women. She parlayed that start in 1967 into a worldwide nonprofit empire.
With the global recession stubbornly persisting, nonprofits have been hit hard.
Roughly $306 billion was given to charity in 2007, a 10 to 15 percent drop is projected for this year and next. Given the depth of the economic downturn, however, it could have been worse.
“It’s a moment that calls for leadership,” Solomon said. “We’ve seen in San Francisco and other cities the community leadership has increased their giving.”
The Bronfman-Solomon partnership goes back 13 years, but both had become leading figures in philanthropy before that.
Bronfman worked as a senior executive with Seagram’s, the Canada-based worldwide liquor giant founded by his father and run by his brother, Edgar Bronfman, himself a noted Jewish philanthropist. He also was principal owner of the Montreal Expos when they launched as an expansion team.
He remembered his parents as dedicated philanthropists and Jewish community activists. “We grew up knowing that was part of your life,” the Montreal native said. “They did manage to influence us and hand down that commitment.”
The nonprofit Bronfman launched with his wife, Andrea, not only developed Birthright Israel (for which he still serves as co-chairman) but also Reboot, an organization that expands Jewish identity through the arts and intellectual dialog.
Solomon previously taught philanthropy at New York University and served as CEO of the United Jewish Appeal Federa-tion in New York.
Tragedy struck the Bronfman family in 2006, when Andrea died from injuries sustained after being run over by a taxi in Manhat-tan. Despite the loss, Bronfman and the couple’s children and the work of her philanthropy go on.
But not forever.
Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philan-thropies will spend down its corpus of funds in 2016, meaning it will go out of business that year. As Bronfman and Solomon note in their book, by doing this, they keep the emphasis “on the work, not on the organization.”
“Our goal is to make sure the initiatives we started find good homes,” Bronfman said.
Added Solomon: “It’s like having children. They grow up and hopefully they outdistance you. In a way, the programs we’ve been involved with are our family.”
Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey Solomon will speak at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, at the JCC of San Francisco, 3200 California St., S.F. $10-$18. Information: (415) 292-1200 www.jccsf.org.
“The Art of Giving” by Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey Solomon (276 pages, Jossey-Bass, $29.95)