[download the 2013 OBF Court Grant Application and detailed instructions]

[read the full article]

You are providing legal advice to a start-up non-profit organization or sitting on the board of such an organization.  You believe strongly in the entity’s mission, and want to do all you can, as a lawyer and as a volunteer, to help it succeed.  A perfect example to follow is right in front of you – the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.  This non-profit charitable organization, which is the third oldest bar foundation in the U.S, has successfully raised and distributed over $10 million to provide legal services and law-related benefits and education to Oklahoma citizens, all in the name of Oklahoma lawyers.  The OBF provides a valuable legal blueprint for any lawyer to follow in establishing, operating, or contributing to the success of a non-profit organization.

[Full Article]

[read more about Susan]

To be a Fellow means that you are a player — not just a fan. Fellows are stakeholders in the mission and purpose of OBF. Mixed metaphors aside, I present you with my top ten reasons why you should be proud to be a Fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.

10. 90,000 Oklahomans were affected this Year by OBF Grants and Awards. Your Fellow contributions will touch lives throughout the State.

9. OBF helps Children and Vulnerable Adults. OBF makes grants to Oklahoma Lawyers for Children and Tulsa Lawyers for Children. These organizations provide training and support services to Oklahoma lawyers who provide pro bono representation for deprived children in juvenile court and for representation at emergency show-cause hearings. OBF also makes grants to fund Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and Court Appointed Advocates for Vulnerable Adults (OCAAVA). More than $1.7 million in grants have been made in support of children’s programs.

8. Clinton is #4 in the NATION. OBF is the sole source of funding for the annual OBA High School Mock Trial Competition. Clinton High School was this year’s state champion and placed fourth in the National High School Mock Trial Competition. Clinton’s fourth place finish was the best finish for an Oklahoma team in the national competition–EVER.
7. OBF helps our Courts. OBF’s court grant program is funded through a cy pres award derived from class action litigation. Since inception of the court program in 2008, grants totaling $269,000 have been awarded to 25 Oklahoma district courts for courtroom equipment such as computers, sound systems, video equipment, court reporting equipment and Wi-Fi hardware.

6. OBF is the Charitable Heart of OBA. The OBA has the responsibility of regulating the legal profession in Oklahoma and providing valuable services to its members. OBF supports Oklahomans who are not lawyers through grant making to legal service organizations and other law-relation nonprofit organizations that education the public about the law and the legal system.

5. Old White Guys are no longer in charge. In 2013, for the first time in recent memory, white men over age 50 (like me) will no longer constitute a majority of the OBF Trustees. OBF now has the most diverse board in its history and we fund a diverse array of law-related programs across Oklahoma.

4. $10,500,000.00 plus in OBF Grants and Scholarships have been awarded. Enough said.

3. We are like the united way for Lawyers. OBF is a big tent. Within the tent are twenty to thirty-some organizations carefully selected to receive support. The convenience of one gift to support as many as twenty plus organizations, which have been fully vetted by a Board of Trustees composed of lawyers, makes OBF attractive. OBF is the charity of choice for Oklahoma lawyers.

2. OBF Only Funds Causes that are Unique to Our Profession. What if Oklahoma lawyers had a charitable organization that made grants to charitable organizations dedicated to legal services for vulnerable adults and children; and dedicated to educating the public about their legal rights? You do — the OBF. OBF is a clearinghouse for such organizations and its grants and awards committee sifts through dozens of requests each year to carefully select those organizations which are most worthy of support, and we follow up with them to make certain funds are spent as they should be. There is no better bargain for your money.

1. Because it Feels Good! While it is free to be a member of OBF — to really feel it — you must be a Fellow!

It has been my pleasure to serve OBF, an organization that every Oklahoma lawyer can believe in. For those of us who have been given much — much is expected. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Very truly yours,
Shon T. Erwin

It’s that time of year when the Oklahoma Bar Foundation asks you to make a contribution to the OBF as a part of your end-of-year charitable giving.  The OBF funds the types of charitable programs and services that only lawyers and law firms care about.  The charitable purposes of the OBF are accomplished through annual grant awards that advance the science of jurisprudence and promote the administration of justice throughout Oklahoma, giving funding for organizations that provide:

• free legal assistance to the poor and elderly;
• safe haven for the abused;
• protection and legal assistance to children;
• law-related education programs for the public (including Oklahoma school children);
• law student scholarships for those we expect to follow our charge; and
• court grants and other activities that improve the quality of justice for all Oklahomans.

OBF grants have totaled more than $10.5 million, with about $5 million of that amount given within the last five years alone.  In these challenging economic times when other sources of funding for OBF grantees have been drastically cut or have completely gone away, contributions from people like you will help the OBF be able to continue our mission of supporting law-related charities.  Law-related charitable services are not an area other organizations or groups willingly support and it is important that we, as attorneys, help.

For those of us who have had the opportunity to visit and to talk with OBF grantees, it is the specific stories of the help provided through OBF grants that tug at our heartstrings and make us proud to be Oklahoma lawyers and OBF supporters.  For example, we all know that legal service attorneys who handle domestic violence cases often see the unthinkable.  One such case involved a situation that no child should ever have to experience.

Robin, an attorney in the Oklahoma City office of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma (LASO), tells the story of Sandy who was only 17 when she first came to LASO for help. Sandy’s mother died approximately eight years ago and she had been living with her father and step-mother.  This past summer her father became violent with her.  Sandy filed a VPO and came to LASO for help. LASO assisted her in getting a three year final order.  Before coming to LASO, Sandy went to live with a friend, and the friend’s mother was instrumental in getting her get set up with Circle of Care, which is a girls’ group home in Tahlequah.  LASO also assisted the friend’s mother in preparing a pro se guardianship.  Robin walked through the paperwork with the guardian and got an emergency order so Sandy could go to Circle of Care to live.  Her father was completely unresponsive in giving his consent for Sandy to be admitted to the group home.  Now, Sandy is excelling.  She recently turned 18 and the guardianship was dismissed.  Sandy had been haunted by leaving her younger brother behind in the abusive home.  The brother’s situation became very bad and DHS was required to take him into custody.  The good news is that he was placed with a maternal aunt who had been visiting Sandy at the group home.  Sandy would have faced further violence had LASO not helped.  She is now a happy high school senior with good grades and is college bound.  After closing Sandy’s LASO case file, Robin concluded, “Today was a great day to be a lawyer!”

You have seen headlines ranking Oklahoma as being one of the top 10 worst states in the nation for women killed by men.  We honor our legal service attorneys and the other Oklahoma Bar Foundation grantees who work to save the lives of those tormented by domestic abuse.  The Oklahoma Bar Foundation’s support of domestic violence intervention programs allows legal service practioners like Robin to serve a larger spectrum of the needs of domestic abuse victims by providing OBF funding to “fill the gap” so the attorney will have more opportunity to protect the client.

Show your support for these important law-related organizations by making a charitable gift to the Oklahoma Bar Foundation.  If you are already a Fellow of the OBF and have met your initial pledge, please consider becoming a Sustaining Fellow by continuing your $100 per year donation, or even better, become a Benefactor of the OBF by increasing your gift commitment to $300 per year.

If you are not a Fellow, then now is the time to become one.  Or, you can even make a one-time charitable donation to the OBF in the dollar amount of your choosing. Become a Fellow or make your online gift today.

Your Oklahoma Bar Foundation funds the types of programs and charitable services that only lawyers and law firms care about.  We can’t do it without Your help!

Thank you for your generous and loyal support of the OBF.

Sincerely,

Susan B. Shields
President-Elect

It is my privilege to announce the 2012 Oklahoma Bar Foundation Grant Awards in the total amount of $356,000. The grants are down this year as a direct result of the continued instability of the economy, and particularly the ongoing low interest rate environment. Banks have dramatically reduced the rates they pay on IOLTA accounts. In some instances the rates paid on IOLTA accounts have been reduced by nearly 50% from last year’s rates. Grant amounts are down by more than 30% for much-needed law-related services in Oklahoma.

OBF funding has steadily declined since 2009 along with the economy and nationally IOLTA income has declined by 88%. This dire short-term interest situation is not likely to improve for at least another three to four years. The decline in IOLTA income means that many low-income Oklahoma citizens will be denied access to legal services, and thus denied equal access to justice.

2012 Oklahoma Bar Foundation Grant Awards

I hate fundraising. Asking people for donations is painful and embarrassing, especially when they say no. Even if the donor says yes, you know the other shoe will fall—when the donor asks you for a donation and you must reciprocate. If you are a skilled fundraiser, and actually enjoy fundraising, then stop reading this now.

Last month the Oklahoma Bar Foundation (OBF) and the OBA jointly sponsored a workshop on fundraising for nonprofit organizations. The workshop was led by Andy Robinson, consultant and trainer for nonprofits. Andy is also the author of several books and articles on
fundraising. Andy shared his fresh perspectives on successful fundraising. With Andy’s permission, I will share some of my favorites with you in hopes of making you better, or at least, more informed fundraisers. You may never enjoy fundraising, but the information that follows will likely improve your performance as a fundraiser.

1. Identifying your prospects. In general, prospective donors must meet at least two of the following three qualifications: Ability—Do they have any available money to give? Belief—Do they care about your issues, programs, etc.? Do they have a relationship with any of your board members, staff, or major donors? Recognize that 75% of all giving comes from individual donors with bequests generating 7% and corporate gifts only 5%. Recognize also the paradox of giving—the poorest states per capita give the most to charity.
2. The closer you get the more you raise. People give money to people, not organizations. Therefore, you must want as much human contact with the donor as is reasonably possible. In terms of solicitation strategies, the following list descends from most effective to least effective:
   1. Personal face-to-face; team of two preferred over one
   2. Personal letter on personal stationery; telephone follow-up will improve results
   3. Personal phone call; follow-up letter will improve results
   4. Personalized letter
   5. Impersonal letter (direct mail)
   6. Impersonal telephone (telemarketing)
   7. Fundraising benefit/special event)
   8. Door-to-door canvassing
   9. Media/advertising
3. Gift Ranges. In a typical annual campaign—the money that organizations raise each year for general support follows this pattern: 10% of the donors yield 60% of the money; 20% of the donors yield 20% of the money; and 70% of the donors yield 20% of the money. In other words, most organizations rely on a handful of major donors to generate the majority of their unrestricted income. Using this principle, you can set your goal and then calculate how many donations at each level you’ll need to meet that goal.
4. The Ask. When asking for money you should listen more and talk less. If you want money, you should ask for advice. If you want advice you should ask for money. The point is that a fundraiser should ask why the potential donor gives— get that person to tell you what charitable organizations they feel passionate about and why. Know your organization, be prepared to identify what makes your group unique. More importantly, have a heartwarming story you can tell which describes the work of your organization. Statistics may raise eyebrows but emotions raise money—so go easy on the data and jargon. For law related nonprofit organizations, the fundraiser should transform the abstraction of justice into concrete examples of various legal service providers helping vulnerable adults and children find shelter, safety and assistance.
5. Please and thank you. Most of you don’t need a purple dinosaur to remind you that please and thank are truly magic words. Many fundraisers lack the discipline to write a personal thank you note to a donor. There is power in personal correspondence and even more power in offering an in-person thank you.

I still hate fundraising, but what I hate more is that every day equal justice under the law is being denied Oklahomans. Equal justice under the law means nothing without equal access to justice. As the nation with the most lawyers, it is both shameful and ironic that so many of our citizens are without meaningful access to legal counsel; and that so many of our citizens are woefully ignorant of their basic legal rights and responsibilities. This is a cause to which we, as lawyers, are all called— let’s do some fundraising.

Shon T. Erwin is President of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation and may be reached at Judge_Shon_T_Erwin@okwd.uscourts.gov. Andy Robinson may be reached at andyfund@earthlink.net.

Frank had always provided for his family until he was injured on the job leaving him with a brain injury and in a medically induced coma. The family always lived from paycheck to paycheck, had no savings or even a checking account. With no joint account, there was no place to deposit the worker’s comp checks and no way to access money, and the family fell behind on rent and utilities. In the coma state, Frank had no capacity to consent to power of attorney for his wife Betty and she called Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, not knowing what she needed, only that everything was falling apart. The LASO attorney quickly obtained an emergency special guardianship over Frank so Betty would be able to pay bills; any delay could be devastating. Betty opened a checking account and was able to find some relief as she dealt with Frank’s long road to recovery. There were three court dates and thirty documents filed in Frank’s case of uncontested guardianship by LASO. Betty now receives bi-weekly worker’s compensation checks for Frank, and by cutting back, Betty is able to maintain the household she hopes Frank will return to. Betty had nowhere to turn until LASO stepped in to help.

Students

In the 18 years Kevin has been on this earth, he has endured more loss than most people do in their entire lives. Kevin’s mother went to prison when he was very young, and his father was severely injured in a car accident that left him mentally challenged and unable to care for a young son. Kevin’s elderly grandmother took him in and raised him. Kevin’s home life was certainly not ideal. Kevin joined the Oklahoma High School Mock Trial team at his school as a freshman and found that he has an insatiable interest in law, politics and the criminal justice system. Up to that point, Kevin had struggled in school. As a member of his school’s Mock Trial team, Kevin not only learned critical thinking skills, he found a mentor and mother figure in his coach and a family in his team. Kevin rose to be the leader of that family taking his team during his senior year of high school to win the Oklahoma Mock Trial State Championship and fourth place at the National High School Mock Trial Competition. Kevin is just one example of how the Oklahoma High School Mock Trial program is changing lives and investing in the future.

Seniors

Within months of her diagnosis, Rose received news that her cancer had spread. The doctors said it was terminal. Rose gradually began to lose her strength and her mind as the disease took over her body. Rose’s thoughts raced – How could she care for herself in this condition? Rose called her adult daughter, Karen, who immediately sold her home and personal possessions to move in to Rose’s home and care for Rose. Soon Karen learned how difficult it was to care for a parent. No one would speak with her about Rose’s care. They would not allow her to review Rose’s medical bills, purchase insurance, or even speak with them about paying the debts Rose owed. At a loss for what to do, Rose and Karen contacted the attorneys at the Senior Law Resource Center. The Center provided advice and documents to Rose that allowed Karen to care for Rose and speak to others on her behalf. The Center also helped Rose repay Karen’s generosity by helping Rose leave her home to Karen after her death. Now, Karen does not encounter problems caring for Rose. Karen can focus on caring for and spending time with her mother in Rose’s final days.

Children

David and Jordan are brothers living very different lives than when they first came into DHS custody 3 years ago. The boys were 15 and 13 when removed from their parents for neglect. David, now an easy going 18 year old is far older than his age, “We knew we had to stick together when we got picked up. Our life wasn’t the best, but it was our life and it’s what we knew.” The boys had lived in motels all of their lives, often missing school when their parents were “dope sick” and needed “help.” David explained “help” meant he had to go score drugs for his parents and watch them shoot up. The boys arrived at the Shelter with their guard up and lots of attitude. A lot of that changed after they met their Oklahoma Lawyers for Children lawyer. Eventually, OLFC got them out of the Shelter, but not placed together. The street tough brothers would run off to meet each other and it was stressful for the foster families. When David aged out, he lived on the streets for a while, but stayed in touch with his OLFC lawyer. Eventually David figured out he didn’t want to be like his dad, and his OLFC lawyer helped him get a job and his GED. Now David attends OCCC and has a future. Jordan is at Guthrie Job Corps working on his GED and learning to be a welder. David is quick to remind young Jordan not to waste time saying, “Dude! Stay in Job Corps, get your GED and a trade!” The boys credit their OLFC lawyer for sticking with them and seeing them as individuals with different needs. “Man, we were on a bad road to nowhere!” says Jordan. “Our mom and dad, they weren’t changin’…Our lawyer cared!” The boys now look forward to the future, a future where hope and color have been returned to the lives of neglected children.

Download this article as it appeared in the October 6, 2012 Oklahoma Bar Journal

The Oklahoma Bar Foundation has made over $10 million in grants, awards and scholarship payments. Funding for these grants, awards and scholarships comes from four sources: 1) trust accounts of Oklahoma lawyers through the Interest On Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, 2) interest on endowments and other invested OBF funds, 3) the Fellows program and other generous contributions; and 4) Cy Pres and residual balance awards.

OBF funding has steadily declined since 2009 along with the economy. The 2012 OBF grant funding program is in crisis because income is down by almost 50 percent from this same time last year. Much of the 2012 revenue decline is attributed to unanticipated decreases in IOLTA receipts. Federal funds target rates have not changed in many months, and this dramatic decrease was not expected by IOLTA programs across the nation. This dire situation is not likely to improve for at least another two or three years, provided that federal rates do increase.

What will the dramatic decline mean for organizations funded by OBF?

The 2012 OBF grant cycle is currently underway with 21 organizations making requests totaling $675,000. Given the loss of income, your OBF must dramatically cut grant award amounts and possibly eliminate some organizations completely from the grant process. This means that many Oklahomans will go without vitally needed legal services. This means that law-related education programs in schools will go unfunded. This means that children and vulnerable adults in Oklahoma will suffer.

What will the dramatic decline mean for you?

Oklahoma lawyers will be expected to take on more pro bono roles because more Oklahomans will be seeking help, and many will not be able to find it. The need is great, but greater is the capacity for Oklahoma lawyers to give their time and money to help the most vulnerable among us.

The next time you pay your OBA dues, think about what your payment does not include.

Judge Erwin is Oklahoma Bar Foundation president and can be reached at Judge_Shon_T_Erwin@okwd.uscourts.gov, and Ms. Norsworthy is Oklahoma Bar Foundation executive director and can be reached at nancyn@okbar.org.