Darcy Bingham never expected to have the wherewithal to become a philanthropist.
“My father was a draftsman, my mom worked for the county and with our after school recreation programs, my step-dad was a teacher. I come from pretty modest means.”
That changed after her husband, Robert, sold his internet-based company in 1998, leaving the couple with the financial resources to invest in causes dear to their hearts. San Diego Foundation (SDF) was one of the very first places Darcy turned to for guidance. She suggests that others who may find themselves in a comparable situation do the same.
“Maybe you don’t know where to donate yet. Maybe you don’t know how you want to spend that philanthropic dollar. Well, the San Diego Foundation is a great place to park it while you teach yourself, while you learn, while you explore what causes resonate, and they’re an excellent partner to help you do that and make an impact.”
Darcy has certainly been making an impact.
She’s served on nearly every SDF board or committee, including its Regional Disaster Board and the Community Scholarship Program, which has distributed more than $53 million in scholarships to more than 14,000 local students, nearly 75% of whom were the first in their family to attend college.
She and her husband are significant supporters of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a top SDF nonprofit partner. And she remains a passionate backer of Just in Time for Foster Youth, another SDF nonprofit partner that supports foster youth during their vulnerable transition years to independence.
Her latest project: the SDF Fifty & Forward Campaign Council, a body of dedicated philanthropists building a community of generous donors during SDF’s 50th anniversary year, with a goal of granting $500 million to realize San Diego’s greatest opportunities in three key areas: education, children and families, and the environment – and raising $1 billion to help shape our community’s future.
Healing the World
Born and raised in Wisconsin, Darcy comes from a family with a long history of volunteerism.
“One of the great things about the Midwest is you’re only allowed to complain about something for so long before you gotta get your hands dirty and get in there and help fix it” she said. “It was always just expected that you give back and you volunteer.”
Darcy moved to San Diego in 1987 to earn a master’s degree in sports management at San Diego State University after securing bachelor’s degrees in international business and commercial recreation and sports management from Arizona State University. She would go on to thrive as director of operations and associate director of recreation at University of California San Diego. She also served for many years on the UC San Diego Foundation board and is now an emeriti trustee.
Darcy’s philanthropic interests are in line with SDF priorities. Both Just in Time for Foster Youth and the Challenged Athletes Foundation fall under the Foundation’s three core areas of giving during its 50th anniversary: Education, and Healthy Children and Families, respectively.
“We love Challenged Athletes because if you have a body, you’re an athlete, and they help you do whatever you can with whatever you’ve got. So, if you’ve lost both legs, if you’re blind, if you’ve had a severe stroke, if you were born without an arm, they’re going to help you thrive and live an active life and join a great community.”
Her support for Just in Time for Foster Youth is just as strong.
“Helping a kid in the foster system graduate into a life of self-sufficiency is critical. It’s been proven time and time again, that by getting that child out of a cycle of poverty and successfully on their feet, hundreds of thousands of dollars can be saved in a community. Just in Time does a phenomenal job in the emancipation process from the foster care system.”
Strategic Investments
Darcy is a believer. She wants you to believe, too.
“San Diego Foundation was highly recommended by a lot of our business partners,” she said. “To be effective, I knew I desperately needed a philanthropic education and I wanted to learn more about our communities and the issues facing those communities. Being on a working group for grants was one of the ways I learned about that. It was an excellent education into philanthropy. SDF can help you learn a lot more about anything in terms of philanthropy.”
The bottom line, she says: “When you change a life, you make a difference.”
