Irwin Jacobs says he and his wife, Joan, manage their own giving and take their time in thinking through whether to support a certain request. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Joan and Irwin Jacobs typically take their time deciding where to donate. “We like to know about an institution to which we’re maing a donation, particularly the leadership, how well they’ve done in the past, the excitement one feels among the staff,” says the retired founder of Qualcomm. “And the ones that appeal to you, you go ahead. I don’t think there’s any secret to making these choices. Education is always at the top of our list. Support for UCSD is very important.”

He hopes people don’t experience donor fatigue as a result of the recent wildfires. “I was just talking with the people at Jewish Family Service who were involved for well over a year after the last fires. I have a feeling there will be a slow period (of declining charity to non-recovery organizations), not just due to the emergency. There are other factors: Cost of living is going up. People are less comfortable with real estate values going down. The price of energy has been going up and will continue for a time. All of these make people less comfortable and they therefore may reduce or delay some of their donations. There will be a number of factors at play and organizations have to be careful.”

Among the buildings that bear the Jacobs’ name at UCSD is the home of the School of Engineering.

Does he ever get tired of giving?

“We tend to do it ourselves,” he says. “We don’t have a foundation with a staff to help us. And yes, it does take some time and thought and discussion. So often because of other time needs, we’ll put it off and come back and think through what requests have been made. As a result, we’re not as timely as we might be otherwise. But it’s important to think about these things and judge where to give our limited resources, and also to become more involved. It does take time, but it’s very rewarding.

“How well does that pass down to the rest of the family? We tend not to preach about things. We expect to (give charitably) and in our case our sons and their wives and our grandchildren see this and feel they need to help others, to be philanthropic.”