Community Leadership Report 2008

As evidence of our commitment, Piper Jaffray contributes 5 percent of its pre-tax earnings to the community as part of the Minnesota Keystone Program, a voluntary initiative founded more than 25 years ago that promotes corporate support for communities. That translates into more than $11 million in community contributions and more than $2 million in employee volunteer hours in the past five years alone.

The Piper Jaffray Foundation, corporate giving and sponsorship dollars are focused on the following:

• Community investment in neighborhood-based, small-business programs in low-income areas that promote sustainable employment and replicable success.
• Education which deepens knowledge of the economy, with emphasis on emerging industries.
• Major arts and cultural organizations that enhance the quality of life in the community, supported through sponsorships.
• Other Priorities:
  • Innovative health programs that develop and track new techniques and advances in children’s chronic health concerns.
  • Initiatives that encourage civic engagement of young people.
  • Youth leadership development, with an emphasis on access to higher education and development of diverse leaders who are considering careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Piper Jaffray 2008 Total Giving

Piper Jaffray 2008 Foundation and Corporate Giving by Focus Area

Community Investment, Small Business

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
LISC Twin Cities supports nonprofit community development organizations with grants, loans and expertise to help them construct businesses, community centers, and affordable homes in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The multi-year support of Piper Jaffray has helped LISC transform neighborhoods through housing and small business development, and other community building strategies. In the past 20 years, LISC Twin Cities has invested more than $370 million in grants, loans and equity, leveraging an additional $1.2 billion in total development. That investment has created more than 8,700 affordable homes and apartments, and more than 1.3 million square feet of commercial and community space in some of the Twin Cities’ most challenged neighborhoods.

PHILLIPS NEIGHBORHOOD SUPPORT
Neighborhood Development Corporation,
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Piper Jaffray is proud of its multi-year relationship with NDC to help revitalize a commercial section of the Lake Street area of Minneapolis. Following years of employee mentoring and consulting in small business minority start-ups as well as multi-year grant funding, the 2008 grant continued the focus on entrepreneurship and community development, specifically at Plaza Verde and Midtown Global Market, both on Lake Street in the Phillips neighborhood of south Minneapolis.

Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota,
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Piper Jaffray also made a grant to Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota for its business training and workforce development program for micro-entrepreneurs at Midtown Global Market and other businesses along Lake Street in Minneapolis.

Volunteers of America, Alexandria, VA
This national nonprofit, faith-based organization provides human service programs with an opportunity for individual and community involvement. It is the largest provider of affordable housing and has been doing extensive work in this field in and around the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina. Piper Jaffray supported its annual national conference in 2008, held in New Orleans.

Economic Education

BestPrep, Brooklyn Park, MN
Piper Jaffray provided grant funds and volunteers to support BestPrep’s eMentors student e-mail mentoring program, as well as Minnesota Business Venture, an intensive, weeklong summer program for high school students. BestPrep prepares Minnesota students with business, career and financial literacy skills—through experiences—that inspire success in work and life.

Arizona Council on Economic Education, Scottsdale, AZ
ACEE prepares teachers to help Arizona students develop economic ways of thinking and problem-solving that they can use in their lives as consumers, savers, investors, workers, citizens and participants in a global economy. A Piper Jaffray grant supported teacher workshops and online lessons designed to help students, especially low-income students, develop economic ways of thinking and problem solving for application in the real world.

Arts and Culture

The Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis, MN
Premier sponsorship by Piper Jaffray of the popular Peter Pan and Romeo & Juliet helped this Tony Award-winning theater delight young and old alike. Peter Pan featured brilliant shadow puppetry and Romeo & Juliet was performed promenade style, with the audience in the center of the action.

The Frick Collection and Reference Library,
New York City, NY
Piper Jaffray provided support to The Frick Collection, which includes some of the best-known paintings by European artists, major works of sculpture, eighteenth-century French furniture and porcelains, Limoges enamels, Oriental rugs, and other works of remarkable quality.

The Children’s Museum, Seattle, WA
Piper Jaffray provided sponsorship support to the Children’s Museum for the “Passport to Play” membership program. Through collaboration with social service organizations, the museum offers free, year-long family memberships to low income, homeless and distressed families. The sponsorship of Piper Jaffray allowed 77 additional at-risk families to attend the Museum.

MOSAIC, A Festival of Arts Celebrating Cultural Diversity, Minneapolis, MN
Piper Jaffray has been a sponsor of Mosaic since its inception in 2004. This celebration of cultural diversity through the arts provides an opportunity for the community to experience a wide spectrum of cultural and artistic activities in Minneapolis. The festival promotes community visibility of the richness and diversity of arts and cultures in Minneapolis.

Environmental Impact

The Green Institute, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
This organization is a nationally recognized leader among community development organizations for its strong commitment to promoting sustainability and urban environmental quality. Firmly rooted in serving the needs of Minneapolis’ Phillips neighborhood, the Green Institute received a grant from Piper Jaffray to support expansion of its innovative ReUse Center and DeConstruction Services—which salvages reusable building materials and resells them to the public at an affordable rate. The services create living wage jobs; connect more than 60,000 homeowners with quality, inexpensive building materials for home improvement; and protect the environment and ground water systems by salvaging thousands of tons of reusable building materials from landfills every year.

California Clean Tech Open—ACTERRA, Palo Alto, CA
Piper Jaffray provided support to this organization of leading entrepreneurs, academics, investors and companies, working together to accelerate the development of clean technology startups. The Clean Tech Open provides resources, education and support for clean tech entrepreneurs. Activities include the Annual Business Competition, mentoring, sustainability workshops, a series of public symposia and a resource directory. Focus areas for the organization include transportation, water efficiency, smart power and storage, renewables, greenbuilding, and air-water-waste.

Other

Minneapolis Heart Institute, Minneapolis, MN
A grant from Piper Jaffray supported new clinical research internships for three students (high school, undergraduate or medical students) interested in cardiovascular medicine. Through direct hands-on research and exposure to sub-specialties, the program seeks to build interest in cardiology careers in a community that faces a shortage of cardiologists, especially those in clinical research. This program aligns with our youth leadership development focus with an emphasis on science, technology, economics and math (STEM) education.

Admission Possible, Saint Paul, MN
This nonprofit is helping 1,300 promising, low-income high school students prepare for and earn admission to college by providing ACT/SAT test preparation, admissions and financial aid consulting, and guidance in the transition to college. A Piper Jaffray grant made this intensive college preparatory programming possible for more than a dozen high school students in the Greater Twin Cities.

Denver Public Schools Foundation, Denver, CO
This two-year partnership with the Denver Public Schools Foundation helped fund the introduction of a new elementary-school level, hands-on science curriculum called SCIENCE TRACKS. The intent of the curriculum is to help students learn by actually doing science, rather than simply reading from a textbook. This is part of the district’s strategic plan to engage students in science at a young age, give them the skills to master science concepts, and help build a pipeline of future scientists and engineers.

BestPrep eMentors Program
For two years running, Piper Jaffray employees in Minneapolis have participated as e-mail mentors for students in the eMentors program. The program connects high school students with volunteer professionals. Students develop professional writing skills and learn about the relationship between classroom learning and future career skills. Run by BestPrep, eMentors connects more than 1,400 students and mentors annually. The program encourages mentors to respond to students’ e-mails weekly to discuss specific eMentors curriculum topics such as sharing college and career experiences, and how math is used in everyday life. In the spring of 2008, 27 Piper Jaffray volunteers were paired with students in an economics class at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School. During the fall of 2008, 37 Piper Jaffray volunteers were involved with the program, matched with students from a Principles of Math class at Richfield High School.

“This was a new, exciting and high-impact volunteer opportunity that allowed us to provide students with 'real-life' examples of our current economic and business environment.”
- Deb Schoneman, CFO and coordinator of the firm's involvement in the program

2008 Employee Giving Campaign Expands Giving Options
The Piper Jaffray fall employee giving campaign was the firm’s first truly global effort to support both social services and the environment, largely through the United Way and Earthshare. In addition to U.S. employees, those in the United Kingdom and China had options for giving. United Way is a national network of nearly 1,300 local organizations that work to advance the common good by focusing on human services. Earthshare is a network of more than 500 local, state, national and international environment and conservation organizations.

“Piper Jaffray employees demonstrated remarkable generosity in supporting nonprofit agencies (through the 2008 employee giving campaign) given the difficult market environment. Their contributions will make a meaningful difference in our communities.”
- Andrew Duff, Chairman and CEO

2008 Piper Jaffray grant recipients

In its annual grant round completed in June of 2008, Piper Jaffray Companies and the Piper Jaffray Foundation awarded gifts and grants to more than 35 nonprofit organizations across the country, including the following:

A Better Chance
Admission Possible
American Heart Association
American Red Cross
Arizona Council on Economic Education
BestPrep
Catholic Charities
Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation
Children’s Hospitals and Clinics Foundation
Clean Tech Open—ACTERRA
CommonBond Communities
Denver Public Schools Foundation
Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota
The Green Institute
Huckleberry Youth Services
Jed Foundation
LEAD
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers
Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA)
MIKVA Challenge Foundation
Minnesota Council on Economic Education
Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth
Neighborhood Development Center
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network
REACH Community Development, Inc.
St. David’s Center
Technology Access Fund
University of Minnesota Carlson School
University of Minnesota Medical Foundation
Volunteers of America
Will Steger Foundation
Women’s Foundation
Women’s Initiative for Self Employment
WomenVenture

2008 Piper Jaffray sponsorship partners

Every year, Piper Jaffray sponsors select charitable causes and events, including arts and cultural institutions. These win-win relationships enhance the quality of life in our communities and include:

Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis
Children’s Museum, Seattle
The Frick Collection and Reference Library, New York
MacPhail Center for Music, Minneapolis
Minnesota Aquatennial
Minnesota Orchestra
Minnesota Zoo
MOSAIC – City of Minneapolis
Oregon Zoo Foundation
Pen Pals (Hennepin County Library Foundation)
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Twin Cities Marathon, Inc
Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis