Paul and Elizabeth Selley

In the 1930s, Paul P. and Elizabeth Danos Selley immigrated to Louisiana from Hungary. They had no idea of the good fortune that awaited them or the legacy they would leave behind.

In the early 1950s, Paul and Elizabeth’s brother, Steve Danos, founded Southland Canning, which grew to become one of the largest seafood packers in the United States. Believing it was important to give back to the community, the Selleys supported many worthy causes and decided to leave their legacy to continue these efforts in the New Orleans area.

They established the Selley Foundation and wrote a five-page Guideline to the Trustees that clearly spelled out a desire to focus on “educational and cultural purposes.” In the year 2000, the Selley Foundation became part of the Greater New Orleans Foundation family with a gift of $13.7 million. The trustees felt that this was the most effective way to service multiple interests and achieve the goals the Selleys envisioned.

Denis McDonald, the head trustee, notes three major benefits of their partnership with the Greater New Orleans Foundation:

• “The first and foremost benefit is the management of the assets. By being part of the total investment pool, the Selley Foundation is able to achieve greater diversity than we would if we were a stand-alone foundation. Since inception with GNOF, our assets have exceeded the general markets. Even in 2008, although down, our assets did better than many indices. The Selley Foundation was down about 19 percent in 2008 while many asset classes were down over 25- 30 percent.”
• “Another major benefit is having the combined experience of the GNOF staff available to give us insight into the regional nonprofit landscape. Often, GNOF gives us valuable information about the viability and effectiveness of the nonprofits. Their knowledge is something our six often-busy trustees could not acquire without making dozens of site visits.”
• “Last, and equally important, is the administrative support given by GNOF. They gather and filter all grant requests and get more information if needed from the nonprofits. In short, they provide all communications, letter writing and disbursements for us. Our relationship with GNOF has allowed our trustees to do what they do best: give grants to effective nonprofits that make New Orleans a better place to live.”