How a Tiny Nonprofit Won $45 Million

When Frank Randall took the microphone to make an announcement at the Banning Ranch Conservancy gala in November, few in the room knew what the retired commercial real-estate developer was going to say. In 2012 Randall and his wife, Joan, pledged $5 million to the nonprofit dedicated to preserving 401 acres of undeveloped coastal mesa and wetlands, known as Banning Ranch. On stage at the gala, Randall said he wanted to make a greater commitment toward the purchase of the biggest piece of private undeveloped coastal land left in Southern California.

“Then he paused; I told him to pause at this moment. I could see everybody kind of leaning forward a little,” says Steve Ray, executive director of the Banning Ranch Conservancy and one of the handful of people who knew exactly how big the gift would be.

“Most people in the room [were] thinking it’d be a few million,” remembers Terry Welsh, president of the group.

But Randall announced he was increasing his commitment by $45 million, giving Banning Ranch Conservancy a total of $50 million to put toward the purchase of the property, which the charity is currently negotiating with the owners. “There was this audible gasp in the audience,” says Ray. The initial shock quickly turned into applause and tears. Welsh says he remembers an overwhelming feeling of joy flooding the room.

Such a gigantic commitment would be important for any group, but it is especially stunning for an organization the size of Banning Ranch Conservancy to receive one of the biggest donations of 2019. (The contribution ranked the Randalls No. 43 on the Chronicle’s Philanthropy 50 list of donors who gave the most last year.)

The conservancy has an all-volunteer staff, including Ray, and a net income of just over $193,000, according to its 2017 tax filings, the most recent available. All of its fundraising is aimed at buying the land and financing its conservation and restoration as well as ensuring the public has access to it.

With the Randalls’ new pledge, “we’re now substantially closer to getting towards the finishing line,” says Welsh.

Effort Took Years

The dramatic announcement was years in the making. Ray met with the Randalls at least twice a month, at their home or over lunch, to share developments in litigation and negotiations over the future of the property.

“The goal from the beginning with Frank was never to have him contribute $50 million,” says Ray. Ray and his colleagues assumed other big donors would pitch in to help them meet their fundraising goals.

“We always kind of thought that there would be more Randalls coming forward and there really never [were],” says Welsh.

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The Chronicle’s 20th annual ranking of America’s biggest donors was topped by Michael Bloomberg and followed by the hotel magnate Barron Hilton, then Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, and his wife, Wendy. The top five on the list each gave more than $1 billion to charity last year.

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The conservancy knew it couldn’t rely solely on the Randalls for its fundraising needs. Ray has spent plenty of time driving around Southern California meeting with donors, but none of them have matched the Randalls’ level of support. Banning Ranch Conservancy volunteers sold corn and T-shirts at the Costa Mesa Fish Fry and sent out direct-mail appeals.

All the while, Ray kept the group’s biggest donors updated on its planning and strategy. He says he hopes to build commitment to the cause among all of the group’s potential major donors. “If they develop that same passion, I don’t need to ask them [for money]. They understand it.”

Strong Connection

After he met the board in 2014, Frank Randall was so impressed with its work that he offered the group a $25,000 matching gift, which it met through direct-mail appeals.

Three years later, when Banning Ranch Conservancy was putting together an offer to buy the property, Ray and his collaborators at the Trust for Public Land presented the Randalls with a proposed budget for the negotiations: $450,000 to cover travel, legal fees, and design plans for future facilities on the property, like a theater for environmental education. Frank Randall offered the full amount — as long as Ray would personally supervise how that money was spent.

Over eight years, Ray built a strong partnership and personal relationship with the couple, whose initial interest in the cause came after reading local news reports on the group’s efforts to conserve Banning Ranch. When Joan Randall, an aspiring author, told Ray she was looking for a publisher, he introduced her to Suzanne Forster, an author and vice president of the Banning Ranch Conservancy board. The connection helped Joan navigate the publishing industry and forged a friendship between the two writers.

Frank Randall says he’s wary of nonprofits that spend big on fundraising, so Banning Ranch Conservancy’s all-volunteer staff has impressed him. He also notes Ray’s facility at explaining state and local environmental policies and his determination to move through bureaucratic red tape. “He’s very patient, easy to work with. He answers your questions, and I’ve had a lot of questions. He and I are a perfect fit, I think, to get this thing done,” he says.

Banning Ranch Conservancy

Leaving a Mark on a Community

As Frank and Joan approached age 90, Ray says their conversations about the future of Banning Ranch increasingly focused on the couple’s legacy.

When negotiations to buy the property were in full swing, Frank Randall asked Ray how much the group needed to make an offer that the property’s owners wouldn’t refuse. Ray thought $50 million would put the nonprofit in a “dominant position.” He was meeting with other donors besides the Randalls to cobble together gifts to reach that goal. But the Randalls ultimately offered to give the full amount, adding $45 million to their initial pledge. That gift won’t cover the total cost of purchasing Banning Ranch, but it makes the group’s offer much stronger.

What’s more, a gift to preserve the land from development could solidify the Randalls’ environmental conservation efforts. The couple’s philanthropy includes support for the Catalina Island Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, as well as other environmental and educational charities. Fundraisers often struggle with the delicate process of securing big gifts from older donors, but Ray says he had an advantage in those conversations: “It’s easy when you’re both old,” he says.

Ray, 71, is a retired film producer and a full-time volunteer at Banning Ranch Conservancy. He was open with the couple about his plans to retire for good.

By sharing his efforts to find the group’s next leaders and board members with the Randalls, Ray greased the wheels for a conversation with Frank Randall about his legacy. That conversation went on two years before they decided to make a bigger commitment toward purchasing the property.

In the end, Frank Randall says, his age convinced him to increase the pledge. “There had been some progress, but it still appeared to be very far in the future,” Frank says of the group’s work to buy Banning Ranch. “I’d like to be around to see it come to fruition. I’d like to be able to see the results.”