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ranchandcoast.com 48 NOVEMBER 2026 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE e Architecture of Giving How Cause San Diego is redefining the region's spirit of philanthropy eir solution was not simply to save a conference, but to build an organization capable of driving impact all year long. e 28th Annual Cause Conference, held at the Sharp Prebys Innovation and Education Center in September, highlighted this new vision. Attendance was intentionally capped at 400 to foster genuine human connection — a remedy to the transactional feel of many large-scale events. Instead of broad philanthropic themes, the conference focused on three urgent regional priorities: supporting seniors, combating food insecurity, and addressing social disconnectedness and political polarization. e event was a working forum where leaders across industries could collaborate, share insights, and work on solutions together. It was not just a conference; it was a civic laboratory. One of the striking aspects of Cause San Diego is that it is 100 percent volunteer-run. ere is no paid staff. Instead, Cause San Diego operates through a multi-generational team that includes college students, mid-career professionals, executives, and retirees in their 80s. is diversity is intentional. e organization integrates people with lived experience in the very issues it seeks to address, and their volunteer-powered model reflects the organization's belief that community transformation must be community-led. e organization also invests directly in emerging talent, awarding $10,000 annually in social impact scholarships to local college students. It runs a robust Social Impact Awards program celebrating everyday heroes across the region, as well. "Nurturing new voices is essential, as is cultivating the next generation of civic leaders," says Reidinger. To understand Cause San Diego, one must understand Reidinger, who hails from Morgan City, Louisiana, a Cajun town on the edge of the Atchafalaya Basin. She grew up in a family deeply rooted in O n a bright San Diego morning, there is a particular kind of energy humming through our communities: the sound of a city relearning how to connect. For years, San Diego's philanthropic landscape has been generous but fragmented. Nonprofits, businesses, and civic leaders have all contributed to meaningful change, yet they often operated in "silos of compassion," says Staci Reidinger, a retired Marine Major and Co-Founder of Cause San Diego. Cause San Diego "is built on the premise that San Diego's greatest challenges require coordinated, cross-sector solutions," Reidinger says. Rather than treating philanthropy as a series of isolated acts, the organization functions as a year-round civic engine that aligns corporate resources, academic expertise, government policy, and nonprofit execution. is evolution stems from the legacy of the long-running Cause Conference, founded in 1998 by marketing and media leaders seeking clearer alignment between nonprofit organizations and corporate sponsors. But when the American Marketing Association prepared to sunset the event during the pandemic, a small coalition of leaders — including Reidinger and original founder Parker Pike — stepped in to preserve it. BY BILL ABRAMS Focus philanthropy U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills (Ret.) and U.S. Marine Corps Major Staci Reidinger at a Veterans Day event at the Nixon Library on November 11, 2015