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August Apologies
Reflections on Fund Raising |
August, 2009 |
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Workshop for Admin Straff
Are there admin-istrative staff in your organization who are ready to plunge into fund raising? Sign up for my workshop at SALSA in DC September 22, 2009, from 8:30 to 11:30 AM.
Cost: $120. Half price for multiple people from the same organization, and for those who pay out of personal funds.
Register at www. hotsalsa.org or call 202-234-9382 x 229, or email me if you have questions. | |
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 August 23, 1977, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis apologized for the execution of Ferdinando Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two immigrants, laborers, and radicals who were executed after a highly suspect trial in 1927. Dukakis said, "the high standards of justice, which we in Massachusetts take such pride in, failed Sacco and Vanzetti."
 August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act authorizing reparations for the surviving Japanese Americans who were imprisoned during World War II. Each surviving internee received a check for $20,000.
Your organization is probably not complicit in moral failures on such a grand scale. But if there are any donors in your organization that have been offended by actions or omissions, why not contact them now, and find out if the relationship can be restored? Philanthropy is sensitive business, and organizations stray into insensitivity sometimes.
It could have been failing to acknowledge a gift. It could have been allowing a long-time board member complete her service without appropriate thanks. It could have been redirecting a restricted gift without the donor's consent. It could have been asking a donor who had made a multi-year pledge to buy a $100 ticket to an event.
I recently met the president of a synagogue that was in the middle of a capital campaign. The campaign generated immediate and vigorous support from the middle and lower range donors. The people capable of gifts in the $50,000-and-up range held back. Why? It turns out that the congregation was founded by radicals in the '60s who, in their countercultural wisdom, refused to give any recognition to donors. Generous offers were bluntly rejected. Do you think there may be some smoldering injured feelings? Do you think it will take some apologizing to get those old-timers interested in the synagogue's campaign?
Whether or not you are personally responsible for the slight -- even if you don't understand it -- clear the air. And if you can't get around to it this month, don't wait till next August.
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If your organization would benefit from creative thinking about major gifts fund raising, let's talk. I can help you think through how to raise money from individual donors in this tough economic climate, get ready for a capital campaign, strengthen board involvement in fund raising, or overcome collective nuerosis about money. Call my cell phone (301) 758 3410, or send an email to paul@jumpstartgrowth.com |
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