Don Becker of the Becker Law Office gives back to the community
Little big philanthropy
Little big philanthropy
While he is a successful lawyer who specializes in disability cases, Becker is a modest, unassuming individual. He approaches his work in a cooperative and
not an adversarial manner. “I don’t do the dog eat dog thing,” Becker emphasized. “Even when I am working with the people at the Social Security office, we’re
all doing the same thing. And we have to work together. It’s just works so much easier. I don’t expect favors. But it’s how I want life to be.”
Many gifts in Madison are made out of endowment funds. But Becker has no endowment. He makes the gifts out of the cash flow from his law practice. One
could almost say that the community is a silent partner in his practice. “My staff at the office knows exactly what we give to, for the most part,” Becker said.
“They know that if we’re giving more to one agency or another, there’s less for bonuses and they are totally supportive. Everyone in the office is supportive of
community agencies one way or the other, whether they are tutoring at school or on committees in their communities or in their churches, they are giving back
to the people in need. I feel very good about that. It’s both the kind of people who came to work in a disability law practice and the support back and forth
between the different people for doing things that apparently aren’t as popular as I would like them to be.”
Becker doesn’t have a process that he follows when he gives. There are no letters of intent, proposal formats or budgets that have to be filled out. In fact,
Becker doesn’t respond to letters sent to him asking for money. Rather, Becker is a community activist who finds out about projects as he interacts with people,
either their own projects or projects they have heard about.
“I don’t have developed criteria because then I would be pretending I was a foundation,” Becker said with a chuckle. “For me, the criteria are more if a
project is small, if someone is excited about it and do I think there are potentially some long-term benefits. Do I say I’m going to fund it for ten years? No. Let’s
give it a shot. And if we can do it for 2-3 years and you can show that you got some results, then you have to go out and sell it to somebody else. To me, that’s
fun. And I like to reinforce the inspired people before the inspiration is killed by the bureaucracy, which can happen. So we get people who are willing to go
out on a limb a little bit and try something different, I think that’s a hoot because there are a lot of good ideas out there. A lot of them just fall dead without ever
planting a seed. So I just help fertilize some seeds. They aren’t my seeds. I don’t have those ideas. But it’s just really fun.”
In many ways, Becker is a social entrepreneur. He doesn’t just give money out charitably. He wants to see change come about as a result of his donation. “I
need a program that is doing good for people, Becker said. “I need a program that is leveraged by a lot of volunteers. And I see it as more than just putting on
an event one day. It’s about longer-term returns building community, building community capacity, that sort of thing. Theseare investments that are going to
feel good and are going to do long-term good. It would be cheaper for everyone for every dollar I invest; it will be cheaper by $10 for the community in the
long run or even more. It’s both from a philosophical and responsibility of everyone for the community basis. Obviously from my law practice, I see people in
need. And you can see ways to be effective. And then the interest in doing it in a way that is effective and not just throwing money at problems. Doing it
effectively is important.”
not an adversarial manner. “I don’t do the dog eat dog thing,” Becker emphasized. “Even when I am working with the people at the Social Security office, we’re
all doing the same thing. And we have to work together. It’s just works so much easier. I don’t expect favors. But it’s how I want life to be.”
Many gifts in Madison are made out of endowment funds. But Becker has no endowment. He makes the gifts out of the cash flow from his law practice. One
could almost say that the community is a silent partner in his practice. “My staff at the office knows exactly what we give to, for the most part,” Becker said.
“They know that if we’re giving more to one agency or another, there’s less for bonuses and they are totally supportive. Everyone in the office is supportive of
community agencies one way or the other, whether they are tutoring at school or on committees in their communities or in their churches, they are giving back
to the people in need. I feel very good about that. It’s both the kind of people who came to work in a disability law practice and the support back and forth
between the different people for doing things that apparently aren’t as popular as I would like them to be.”
Becker doesn’t have a process that he follows when he gives. There are no letters of intent, proposal formats or budgets that have to be filled out. In fact,
Becker doesn’t respond to letters sent to him asking for money. Rather, Becker is a community activist who finds out about projects as he interacts with people,
either their own projects or projects they have heard about.
“I don’t have developed criteria because then I would be pretending I was a foundation,” Becker said with a chuckle. “For me, the criteria are more if a
project is small, if someone is excited about it and do I think there are potentially some long-term benefits. Do I say I’m going to fund it for ten years? No. Let’s
give it a shot. And if we can do it for 2-3 years and you can show that you got some results, then you have to go out and sell it to somebody else. To me, that’s
fun. And I like to reinforce the inspired people before the inspiration is killed by the bureaucracy, which can happen. So we get people who are willing to go
out on a limb a little bit and try something different, I think that’s a hoot because there are a lot of good ideas out there. A lot of them just fall dead without ever
planting a seed. So I just help fertilize some seeds. They aren’t my seeds. I don’t have those ideas. But it’s just really fun.”
In many ways, Becker is a social entrepreneur. He doesn’t just give money out charitably. He wants to see change come about as a result of his donation. “I
need a program that is doing good for people, Becker said. “I need a program that is leveraged by a lot of volunteers. And I see it as more than just putting on
an event one day. It’s about longer-term returns building community, building community capacity, that sort of thing. Theseare investments that are going to
feel good and are going to do long-term good. It would be cheaper for everyone for every dollar I invest; it will be cheaper by $10 for the community in the
long run or even more. It’s both from a philosophical and responsibility of everyone for the community basis. Obviously from my law practice, I see people in
need. And you can see ways to be effective. And then the interest in doing it in a way that is effective and not just throwing money at problems. Doing it
effectively is important.”
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
While large donations to non-profit capital projects usually make waves and grab the
headlines, there are other philanthropists out there who operate underneath the radar of public
recognition. While the amounts they give may not drive a single project, their routine giving to
worthwhile projects drive a certain level of social change and generate, dollar for dollar, as
much community goodwill as any multimillion dollar gift could produce.
Don Becker, the managing partner of Becker Law Office, is a little big philanthropist who
generates a lot of goodwill with his donations. Becker recently pledged $30,000 toward the
construction of the Lussier Community Education Center on the grounds of Memorial High
School where his children have gone to school. The level of Becker’s giving will never get him
naming rights for a building — he probably wouldn’t want them anyway — but they are enough to
make small projects feasible.
Becker grew up in a small town and learned his sense of civic engagement from his parents.
“My dad was on the village board, so he contributed to the community,” Becker said over coffee.
“My folks were involved in their church and other organizations and in Boy Scouts and Cub
Scouts. So it was the kind of giving back kind of family.”
Part 1 of 2
While large donations to non-profit capital projects usually make waves and grab the
headlines, there are other philanthropists out there who operate underneath the radar of public
recognition. While the amounts they give may not drive a single project, their routine giving to
worthwhile projects drive a certain level of social change and generate, dollar for dollar, as
much community goodwill as any multimillion dollar gift could produce.
Don Becker, the managing partner of Becker Law Office, is a little big philanthropist who
generates a lot of goodwill with his donations. Becker recently pledged $30,000 toward the
construction of the Lussier Community Education Center on the grounds of Memorial High
School where his children have gone to school. The level of Becker’s giving will never get him
naming rights for a building — he probably wouldn’t want them anyway — but they are enough to
make small projects feasible.
Becker grew up in a small town and learned his sense of civic engagement from his parents.
“My dad was on the village board, so he contributed to the community,” Becker said over coffee.
“My folks were involved in their church and other organizations and in Boy Scouts and Cub
Scouts. So it was the kind of giving back kind of family.”
| Don Becker recently pledged $30,000 toward the completion of the Lussier Community Education Center. |