Donor Spotlight: Deborah Schuler

PCF donor Deborah Schuler partners with Pinellas Community Foundation to ensure her donations support our community’s greatest needs.

Name: Deborah “Debbie” Schuler

City: Clearwater

What is your earliest memory of giving back/being philanthropic?

My first memory of anonymous giving was May baskets. My sister and I made them from colored construction paper and filled them with homemade cookies and some flowers from the garden. We delivered them to our friends and neighbors’ doorsteps, then we rang the bell and scampered out of sight.

The Girl Scouts provided several other early memories of giving. Community clean up, visiting older adults, and learning and teaching first aid and camping skills.

What causes matter to you most?

Higher education because it can open so many doors. Studying abroad because it changed my life and it equips us to be better U.S. and global citizens. Food because, without a healthy diet, we can’t live, study, or work.

What organizations/causes are you supporting in 2023?

IES Abroad scholarships, Pinellas Community Foundation, WUSF, WSMR, PBS, Heifer International, the American and International Red Cross organizations, UNHCR.

What is the history of your partnership with the Pinellas Community Foundation?

When COVID-19 struck and people were out of work and short of food, I wanted to help. While I gave my time to the Pinellas Genealogy Society and the Largo Public Library, I realized that despite living in the county for nine years, I focused my giving much further from my new home. So, I began looking for a way to help feed people in need locally.

I had come to know the Pinellas Community Foundation through my work with PGS and felt I could trust them to see that the money I donated would get where it was needed. So, I began giving monthly donations to PCF in April 2020 for food relief and other pandemic-related support.

In 2022, as life began to return to normal, PCF held an Open House, showcasing many of the charitable groups they supported. I was very impressed by the groups’ variety, dedication, and creativity. When I got home, I changed the instructions on my donations to “where the most needed,” trusting the Foundation to deploy my donation where they would do the most good at any given time.

How do you choose to give?

I am retired and have the luxury to give my time and my skills on the boards of the Pinellas Genealogy Society, IES Abroad, and the Greater Largo Library Foundation. For those and other organizations, I also make financial donations at regular intervals, usually via a donor-advised fund that I hold at Fidelity Charitable, which allows me to manage recurring donations and the timing of any tax deductions more easily.

What advice do you have for people new to philanthropy or people who are concerned that philanthropy is not for them?

Give what you can afford of your time, skills, or money. It is not about how much you give. Every little bit helps. Also, research before you give to ensure that your time and money are used wisely and as promised. Sadly, there are many nonprofits out there that seem to profit their managers more than those they were created to serve. That said, giving to a good cause is truly rewarding.