Originally published in the Foundation’s newsletter “Prime Scene,” February 2007

I Feel Very Comfortable Leaving a Bequest to California Pacific

When it comes to financial management, Charles S. La Follette is a professional who has seen it all: the good, the bad and the indifferent. So impressed is Mr. La Follette with the way California Pacific Medical Center Foundation manages its finances, he is leaving the Foundation a bequest in his will.

“The hospital and the Foundation are extremely well managed,” La Follette says. “I’m impressed. They both run a very tight ship.”

Mr. La Follette earned undergraduate and MBA degrees from Harvard University, as a prelude to a long and successful business career. He served as chief financial officer for several Fortune 200 companies and has his own firm, consulting with small and medium companies on cash flow improvements and acquisitions and mergers.

On the not-for profit side, Mr. La Follette has served as a volunteer director for nonprofits as varied as the World Institute on Disability, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Archaeological Institute of America, KQED Public Television and San Francisco Ballet.

One of his particular interests is California Pacific Medical Center Foundation, where he served for 10 years as chairman of the Finance Committee and as a member of the Investment Committee, four of those as chairman.

Until recently, Mr. La Follette chaired the Foundation’s Audit Committee. “I’ve seen firsthand,” he says, “that the Foundation is a very professional organization. It does a great job, and I felt it was very appropriate to leave a bequest.”

Mr. La Follette says his gift will be unrestricted, entrusting the Foundation to allocate his bequest where the need is greatest. “They have done a very good job of funding what is important,” he says, “so I decided to let them decide where best to use my gift.

“I have been giving annually for the past 15 years or so,” says Mr. La Follette, “and decided to leave a bequest as part of my overall estate planning—it seemed the best way for me to make a gift. I feel very comfortable leaving money to the Foundation.”