PVF is known for customized grant making: matching a donor’s giving interest with an innovative program that PVF has either designed or identified for a donor.

Donor Profile – Peter and Jane Shaw Carpenter

What do a tiny two-room schoolhouse in the Sierras, a new school for girls in Tanzania, and an orphanage in Bhutan have in common? One generous family in San Mateo County and their donor advised fund at Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF). PVF specializes in customizing giving for donors, and helped Peter and Jane Carpenter set up creative giving programs for each of these charitable projects spanning three continents.

• Silver Fork School in Pollock Pines, California, has received ongoing support from the Carpenters for over eight years to benefit the students attending this compact two-room schoolhouse in the Sierras. Through a program established by PVF and supported by the Carpenters, the teachers at this rural school with few “extras” are able to obtain funding for classroom science resources, summer school programs, art workshops, musical instruments, and field trips to broaden and enrich the learning environment for these students.
• When Stanford University students started a service project in Tanzania that grew into an organization – the Bahati Education Project – the Carpenters contributed advice and donated seed money to get the project off the ground. PVF helped to set up a Fund for Bahati Education, whose mission is to support Tansanian women through its model of secondary education rooted in service to empower young women to be successful academics and leaders. Bahati is a Swahili word for “good fortune.”
• While traveling in Bhutan, the Carpenters were deeply impressed by the dedication and the needs at the Chorten Nebu Monastic School and Orphanage. Two hours by foot on a hilltop in the Punakha Valley, the 18th Century monastery houses and educates poor orphans from a nearby village. Needs ranged from a clean water supply and waste management infrastructure, to school support. Hoping to not only support the school and orphanage themselves, but to inspire others to contribute, the Carpenters contacted PVF. Happily the perfect vehicle for such support had already been developed at PVF, via PVF’s Generosity in Action Fund, which supports educational and health projects in communities identified by travelers to developing countries. For more info on the Bhutan project, visit: www.generosityinaction.org/ChortenNebuSchool.htm

Please contact Bill Somerville, PVF Executive Director, at bsomerville@venturesfoundation.org for more information about Customized Grantmaking.