Fund Raiser’s Brash Style Yields Big Dollars for Youth Group in Tacoma

No. 12

By Ben Gose

It is hard to say which drew bigger gasps among nonprofit leaders

here: the $10-million gift that the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound announced last month, or the $60-million capital campaign that the charity unveiled on the same day.

No local branch in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America has ever set such an ambitious campaign goal, and the gift is among the five biggest ever received by one of the 3,400 clubs, according to officials at the national organization, in Atlanta.

The man behind both the gift and the goal is Gary J. Yazwa, a 58-year-old Pennsylvania native whose brashness stands out in laid-back Tacoma. Mr. Yazwa’s aggressive pursuit of big money from Tacoma’s elite is topped only by his enthusiasm for the Boys & Girls Clubs, which have been at the center of his life since childhood.

Nearly everyone who knows him says that Mr. Yazwa, chief executive officer of the Tacoma clubs (whose national parent organization stands at No. 12 on the Philanthropy 400 list), is relentless in his efforts to persuade big donors, corporations, and foundations to buy into his vision. He wants to create seven community centers in Tacoma that would not only house Boys & Girls Clubs, but also provide offices for other nonprofit organizations, meeting space for people in and around Tacoma, and facilities that nearby schools could use.

Local fund raisers say the $60-million goal is among the biggest campaigns ever in Tacoma, a metropolitan area south of Seattle with more than 600,000 people. Mr. Yazwa is trying to raise more than eight times the amount that the Tacoma clubs raised in their last capital campaign, which ended in 2002; in that effort, the local clubs raised $7.2-million.

While many local donors say their hearts skipped a beat when they heard about the new goal, they quickly add that they have learned not to underestimate “Yaz,” as he is known.

“You just don’t tell him no,” says Stan Naccarato, a retired Tacoma businessman who has raised money for many local charities. “It used to be that I was the one who would walk by and make people grab their wallets. Now, it’s him.”

A $10-Million Gift

Shortly after arriving in Tacoma in 1996, Mr. Yazwa began calling Carol Milgard, whose husband, Gary, built a successful window-manufacturing business.

The Milgards were concerned about the problems facing Tacoma’s youth, but they had plans to someday start their own charity to instill habits that can lead to success, such as punctuality and friendliness. Ms. Milgard put Mr. Yazwa off until 1999, when she finally agreed to visit a club, to end what she describes as his “hounding.”

Four boys darted out of the club as Ms. Milgard approached the door. One of the boys started to follow his friends, then noticed Ms. Milgard and stopped. He held the door for her, saying: “Welcome to our club.”

That small gesture quickly ended the Milgards’ plans to start their own charity. “What that little boy showed me was that what they were teaching in there meant everything, and it was exactly the same thing that Gary and I wanted to do,” Ms. Milgard says.

Last month, the Gary and Carol Milgard Family Foundation, with assets of $90-million, made a $10-million gift to the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, to kick off the effort to create the seven community centers. The gift was announced before a crowd of 60 donors and community leaders at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club, and at the same time Mr. Yazwa revealed his plans for the $60-million campaign. Before the Milgard gift, the organization’s largest single donation had been $750,000.

Mr. Yazwa began the meeting by questioning why youth organizations always seem to settle for small donations, without seeking the megagifts that go to universities and hospitals. “We always seem to undervalue what we do for youth,” he says. “When you say you’re shooting for $50- or $60-million, people start to choke. Well, it’s time.”

The campaign, which will continue through 2008, will not only build or renovate the community centers, but also set aside $10.5-million for an endowment. Brad Cheney, executive director of the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, with nearly $64-million in assets as of 2002, has agreed to chair the capital campaign.

“This is probably going to be the hardest campaign that’s ever been done in this town,” says Mr. Cheney, “but the Milgard gift is getting us off on the right foot.”

In November, Mr. Yazwa, his fund-raising staff, and some trustees plan to dye their hair at an event to celebrate the Milgard gift and Mr. Cheney’s appointment as campaign chairman. In a meeting a few years ago, when a $10-million donation seemed like a pipe dream, Mr. Yazwa joked that they would all dye their hair if the organization actually secured such a gift.

The national office for the Boys & Girls Clubs holds Mr. Yazwa up as a model for leaders of its other clubs. He has cut back on fund-raising events in favor of face-to-face meetings with potential donors, as well as encouraging them to visit the clubs.

Sue Aldana, the national organization’s vice president in charge of resource development, says that in the past, the 3,400 clubs have relied too heavily on events, mail solicitations, and grant-proposal writing.

“You need to build up your resource-development program so that you have the potential for this kind of gift,” Ms. Aldana says, referring to the Milgard donation. “Gary has done this over time. Very rarely do you get a gift like this out of the blue.”

Helping Troubled Groups

Mr. Yazwa grew up in the steel town of McKeesport, Pa., and he started visiting its Boys Club at age 8. He says he was the first kid in his neighborhood to go on to college, thanks to encouragement from the club’s staff members.

After a brief stint as a teacher, Mr. Yazwa returned to his hometown club to run its gym. He eventually became a management troubleshooter in western Pennsylvania, staying no more than a year or so at six club branches to help them get back on track. In 1978, he settled in Tempe, Ariz., where over an 18-year stretch as executive director he expanded the budget of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley from $54,000 to $3-million.

In 1996, Michael W. Hansch was serving on the board of one of five separately incorporated Tacoma clubs, and the clubs were looking to consolidate under a single CEO. Mr. Hansch called the group’s national headquarters and asked for the best chief executive at another club. That person, he was told, was Gary Yazwa. Later that year Mr. Yazwa moved to Tacoma.

Mr. Yazwa oversaw the consolidation of the five clubs, which included firing staff members who “didn’t have the commitment to kids.” The reorganization left the newcomer with few allies on the staff or among trustees.

Mr. Yazwa says his approach — which some see as pushy and aggressive — allowed him to survive his first year in his new city. “Nobody was opening the doors for me, so I had to open them myself,” he says.

Mr. Yazwa’s supporters say his aggressive approach is palatable because donors can sense that his commitment to children is sincere. Mr. Yazwa has added a second title, “treasure hunter,” on the business cards of everyone in the organization. While the double meaning in Mr. Yazwa’s case is clear, the title refers to identifying and developing the individual talents in every child.

“There’s nothing else that he talks about,” says Mr. Hansch, a local banker. “I swear he must get up in the morning and start rambling about the Boys & Girls Clubs to his wife.”

‘People Are Afraid of Us’

Even as Mr. Yazwa sets out to build community centers that will provide office space for other charities in Tacoma, he remains fiercely competitive with his local counterparts, to the point of finding meaning in their statements that may not exist.

During lunch at the Tacoma Club, a meeting place for local business leaders, Mr. Yazwa was introduced to a new fund raiser at the local Goodwill chapter. “We just want to follow you around and pick up the crumbs,” the new hire said with a chuckle, which appeared to be a compliment on securing the Milgard gift.

Mr. Yazwa didn’t see it that way — he viewed the comment as further evidence of rumors he has heard that other charities think the Boys & Girls Clubs are “trying to take all the money out of the community.”

“That’s the impact of the $10-million gift,” Mr. Yazwa said later. “People are afraid of us.”

Terry A. Hayes, chief executive officer of Tacoma Goodwill, betrays no feelings of fear or jealousy in an interview. “I see the gift as inspiring,” she says. “Gary and the Milgards are showing others in the community that it’s okay to dig deep and support causes that they believe in.”

Yet Rick Allen, president of the United Way of Pierce County, which includes Tacoma, says it is true that Mr. Yazwa’s aggressive fund raising has rankled some colleagues in the city. Some charity leaders, Mr. Allen says, believe Mr. Yazwa puts too much pressure on the relatively small number of wealthy Tacomans to support his organization.

“He’s like a dog going after a bone — he doesn’t quit until he’s accomplished what he wants to accomplish,” Mr. Allen says. “And I think that’s a good thing. The people who are most nervous look at it as a zero-sum game: ‘Everything he gets, I don’t get.’ Gary’s philosophy is that you can make the pot grow.”

Indeed, Mr. Yazwa believes that, on the whole, Tacoma donors remain too tight-fisted. “In this town, we’ve got a lot of million-dollar check writers writing thousand-dollar checks,” he says. “We’ve got to step it up.”

Mr. Allen says such “indelicate” comments from Mr. Yazwa aren’t unusual, but he notes that they nearly always point toward a worthy goal — greater financial support for Tacoma’s youth.

“He’s ruffled some feathers,” Mr. Allen says. “But sometimes that’s exactly what a community needs.”

THE MAKING OF A TOP FUND RAISER

Gary J. Yazwa, chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound

Education: Received a bachelor’s of science in education in 1969 from Clarion Universityof Pennsylvania.

Years in fund raising: 34

Previous employment: Executive director, the Boys & Girls Club of the East Valley, in Tempe, Ariz., from 1978 until 1996; previously, worked briefly at six clubs in western Pennsylvania as a management troubleshooter.

Charitable interests: Serves as chairman of the national board of Kids at Hope, an Arizona charity that works to reverse the harmful effects associated with the “youth at risk” label; supports United Way of Pierce County, Tacoma, Wash.; Centro Latino, a provider of social services to Hispanic people in Pierce County; and St. Charles Borromeo, a Catholic school in Tacoma.

Most important lesson learned: “I’m always thinking about the next step. I’m thinking about you telling me no, and what I can do to get around that no.”