Hollywood Charities Struggling

“Today’s donor wants to have a direct impact -- ‘I can educate these three kids or I can help fix autism.’

“I think more it’s about ego-driven, or vision-driven philanthropy, where you have a vision, you want to make a difference and you want your money to work.”

Despite the fact that the MPTF Foundation raised nearly $24 million last year, tightened budgets is something that the almost 90-year-old beneficiary entertainment employees support organization is acutely aware of.

“Today, charities are struggling to maintain mission,” Scherer said. “MPTF, like other charities, is having to adapt to a new form of philanthropy.”

The MPTF, which announced earlier this year that it would be closing its Long Term Care Center due to rising costs and falling revenues, was, Scherer said, down over $1 million from the year before due to declining corporate contributions and presenting sponsorships.

Like many long-standing charities, the MPTF found it had to change its model.

In the last decade, for example, the fund has dramatically stepped up its fundraising efforts with numerous celebrity-heavy events throughout the social calendar. Of the money raised last year, $11 millon came from events such as the Night Before, the now annual A Fine Romance and smaller gatherings and golf tournaments.

Then there’s the Rally for Kids with Cancer Scavenger Cup, which roared off the starting line for the first time on May 1. The rally sought to beat the downward trend with strategically leveraged media coverage built around a series of events including a dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel, a private function at the Beverly Hills home of supplement millionaire Bill Phillips and a race around the city.

Hosted by Eva Longoria Parker, who serves as the national spokesperson for PADRES Contra El Cancer, 23 teams were sponsored by companies such as United Airlines and MSN’s Wonderwall.com who paid $25,000 and up to drive through seven task-oriented pit stops. Also, up for bid were celebrity navigators, such a Longoria, her NBA star husband Tony Parker and KISS’ Gene Simmons -- who at $60,000 was the second costliest celeb after Longoria-Parker.

Hock told TheWrap his tactic was to rely less on the big sponsorships and instead attract a wider stable of corporate sponsors and donors in the $50,000 to $100,000 range in a series of events “you get to do, play and attend over a two-day period of positive energy.”

He was very clear about his method and the reasons behind them. “The key for organizations to flourish in the future and to generate sponsorships,” he said, is in how innovative and how creative they can be in integrating the sponsor’s name, product or service throughout the entire initiative.”

For example, for the Scavenger Cup, title sponsor Wonderwall was woven into every aspect of the events and media coverage.

That for Hock is the new reality of Hollywood charity -- and “it’s very difficult for a one-night rubber-chicken gala to do that,” he said.

For Scherer, the situation is part of the far bigger puzzle stumping the entire entertainment and media industry.

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