Staff Annual Fundraising Campaign? An Open Letter to Vu Le of Nonprofit AF

Right on Claire! Bottom line, if we don’t live and breathe our mission, how shallow it is to ask others. We belittle our profession and the foundation of philanthropy!

Claire,

Thank you for such a clear and thoughtful response to this issue. I couldn’t agree more with all of your points, and have already shared your article with my Head of School. I am currently struggling with creating a culture of philanthropy in the school I am working for. Unfortunately, the feelings that fundraising creates or highlights inequities in our parent body has been expresses and truly saddens me. Like you, I feel that there is no greater equalizer than philanthropy and the good that it does! Thank you!

Francesca

I strongly disagree, Claire. No one is denying staff the opportunity to contribute. Vu’s point is that being asked *by one’s own place of employment* injects coercion (implicit if not explicit) in a context where power dynamics remove any real choice. It is disingenuous to imply that not directly asking an employee to give money to fund his or her own paycheck “discourages the joy of giving.” Let employees make their own proactive decisions to give or not, where they wish. Send them a fundraising appeal at home if you feel they will otherwise “not have an opportunity” to contribute. But leave it there.

Claire,

As usual, spot on. All about the culture, it’s not a demand, but an opportunity to support your own organization. The author falls into the age old trap of low expectations and assumptions.

YesYesYes! I was taken aback by Vu’s post, especially since I have decades of experience with very positive staff campaigns in my own organization for all the reasons you mentioned. He makes some very dangerous assumptions. Thank you for getting this letter out while I was still crafting mine 🙂

I’ve been preaching the “give your gift first” line for too long and Vu’s point has really got me to retreat from what I had adopted as gospel and now see pretty differently. I’ve definitely explored the constellation of staff objections before… reflecting: some of my least professional cultivation/solicitation has been among co-workers that did far too little to address the power dynamics alone and clearly overvalued $ than commitment. And I sometimes used familiar persuasions that came way too close to the line that I would not use on other non-staff allies. This quickly I no longer suggest staff contributions as a KPI nor goal.

I couldn’t disagree more. As an Ed and DD of years, I never asked my team to donate. Not because I didn’t believe in any of the organizations I’ve ever worked for. But because there is a value to the number of hours that staff gave, sweat, and sometimes tears, that asking for money, felt invasive. All of my organizations have had a great culture and community feeling, so it wasn’t that we didn’t value philanthropy.

I agree with Vu and would probably dig deeper into the inequity of asking for staff participation even more.

A philanthropic culture in the workplace? My philanthropic engagement at my job is my commitment to my work and to the mission of the organization. We nonprofit folk work hard at less than market rates because we believe in the mission and receive some intangible satisfaction. Our professional staff gives through their excellent work and I hope some day that we can pay them market rate – even then I won’t solicit them for donations. I find it abusive to engage in any kind of giving campaign with the employees as the prospects. It’s disingenuous to pretend there isn’t pressure to give – it feels like extortion almost, a clawback of wages paid, even with the gentlest “encouragement”. And it is highly self-serving to pretend there is a higher purpose to giving your wages to your employer. Is it even philanthropy to give to your employer? Maybe I can get a raise if I give more? Bizarro world. And don’t you dare say those that don’t give financially must not care about their job or their missions – I’m a professional, I do excellent work, and I do it to earn the money my family needs. After exerting myself for my nonprofit profession, I decide where my philanthropy lies and reward other excellent nonprofits with my financial gifts.

We have our staff committees run internal staff fundraising campaigns like a wine survivor which makes it fun. Those who would find giving money tight can donate time to the committee and organizing events. We get 100% participation in these events which also build culture and the committee can direct where in the agency they would like funds to go to

After reading this thought provoking response, I did re-examine my position on the matter. In the end I still lean toward Vu’s arguement and my own approach to this issue. First, I do not buy that the arguement that in order to ask you must give first applies to staff. Of course I want my staff to be engaged and passionate, and to give of themselves to our mission. But they do this is so many ways every single day as the go above and beyond to attain so much good. This does not need to also include a financial contribution. Second, I stand by my own approach, which is to encourage our staff to be philanthropic leaders in our community. In this I lead by example, giving annually to multiple other local charities, volunteer work, and
mentorship of emerging nonprofit leaders and organizations. I think, in our case, as staff it is more valuable to our organization if we lead in our sector and community than if we give financially. This positions us a local leaders in support of philanthropy in our community and sends a positive message to our colleagues that we are there for them as well as ourselves.

Claire,you seem to be an accomplished and professional fundraiser and I’m sure you are very successful

What bothers me about your essay and the agreeable comments is that the word “philanthropy” is coming up over and over again. This should be your cue that something is off in your perspective.

This issue is primarily: one of organizational culture and organizational development, and one of the wise principles and practices of Human Resources.

I think of the old adage that if you all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail! And I am likely guilty of that a bit also, because my work has been HR, organizational development and finance, never fundraising!

As far as the finance/accounting lens: you are simply moving $ from a pay stub to the revenue section of the financial statements, and I would have to ask any honest fund developer if maybe that is just a little self-serving as far as helping you to meet your revenue targets

I completely agree with every argument made by Vu and have not met a single nonprofit staffer that does not give, usually to a fault, far more than any major donor could imagine, in terms of energy, their own health and often their sanity. Vicarious trauma comes to mind, as well as my many friends who face living in poverty in retirement after long careers in the sector with underfunded retirement plans.

I strongly believe that until we can correct the practices, traditions and realities that perpetuate substandard wages in the nonprofit sector (and often less than humane workplace conditions) we should certainly not be looking upon employee giving as “low hanging fruit.” While there can be much dignity in doing the work, the reality of the employment relationship and all economic scenarios faced by employees should make the giving conversation a forbidden one.

I am also reminded of something I heard at a conference a few years ago. I wish I could remember the name of the professor, but he introduced the term “value alignment exploitation”, meaning of course, that we “get away with” exploitation of our staffs based on “it is all about the mission”. In my view, the money-ask rubs salt in that very real wound. I make a further argument that the potential for corruption is high in our nonprofit organizations (and I’ve seen plenty) when we are blinded by the mission quest in similar ways that our private sector friends can be blinded by the greed of the bottom line focus. I think this fund raising practice gets a bit too close to that line.

Plenty of staff will come forward to voluntarily donate. That door can be left open without shaking any threatening stick at already weary workers.

I am a Director at a nonprofit whose mission I support wholeheartedly. Honestly, if my boss or the board (all who know that I am paid somewhat well but not for the city I live in) asked me to give I would be insulted and push back hard against them asking other staff. Our staff is SO small everyone would know who did and did not give, and I would be concerned about subtle retaliation (when raises are due, when bonuses are discussed) in the future for not giving.

I’m with Claire on this one. I was at a human services organization for almost 21 years. I always felt our staff giving day was a big morale booster. It got us all on the same page, bridged the gap between the development team and the program staff, and we all felt ownership in choosing what the staff pledges would go to. We also used that time to express how much we appreciated them and all their hard work.

Reiterating the most important point: if we feel we can’t ask staff to give, then throw the idea of asking a volunteer board member to donate out the window. No logic on this at all.

In my own experience, staff who don’t want to give view their position is just a job, and typically will soon move on, whereas people who truly embrace the mission and work will give and stay.

This definition of a Culture of Philanthropy ignores the impact of the inherent power dynamics at play in mission-based solicitation and reallocation of money, especially in organizations where the majority of workers are living at just above the poverty line, and perpetuates the nonprofit sector’s consistent personal boundary violations.

What other industry has this expectation? A leader saying, “Here is what I donated of my 6 figure salary, and I encourage you to give as well,” to staff making $20k a year is awkward and insulting, which is probably why this is so rarely a transparent expectation. Holding unclear expectations is not healthy behavior in any culture.

The rationale, “If YOU won’t contribute, and you live and breathe the mission, then why would you expect anyone else do to so?” with the expectation that already hard-working staff should, “lead by example,” is inhuman. This is ACTUALLY setting up the expectation that life and breath are not enough for a worker to give — they best give their money, too. It’s guilting paternalism. As is the argument that asking staff “gives people the opportunity” to donate. THEY WORK THERE. They write and correct the copy, doctor and upload the images, pass through hoops for approval, update the website, blast it on email and social — they know how to contribute to the organization!

Gratitude and encouragement, transparent investment in career growth both professionally and capitally, autonomy, the ability to take a paycheck and a benefits package home that supports themselves and their family, with the expectation that work is left at the office — so, the commitment that prioritizing workers’ basic human rights is a better means of executing the mission than asking them for money — this makes a Culture of Philanthropy.

Claire, I have to disagree with your bottom line: “If YOU won’t contribute, and you live and breathe the mission, then why would you expect anyone else do to so?” As a nonprofit worker myself, many of us are underpaid, and if not, could have a myriad of other financial expenses (as a millennial, student loan debt is definitely comes to mind) that prevent us from giving money back to our organization. And why is it that $5 is really what it takes to show people that I am committed and fully believe in the organization’s mission? The argument that if employees don’t give their money, you can’t expect others too, is flawed. Employees give their time, energy, and lives to the organizations, missions, and the people they serve. We should not be measuring the dedication of our employees by monetary donations, nor should we be using this hook to convince others to donate.

Additionally, the “joy” that comes from making a philanthropic donation sounds like it is severely rooted in privilege for those that can easily part with money. Many employees get that joy from serving their communities, not from giving money to their organization, which is why they chose to work at a nonprofit instead in the private sector where wages allow more for donations. Again, for those saddled with debt, working at a nonprofits that typically underpay their entry level employees, every dollar counts.

I have to weigh in with the original article. Especially on this point: Power Dynamics at Play. Claire states – (in part) “Not asking staff to participate in one of the most important endeavors in which the organization is engaged – assuring there is funding to continue the mission – is not the answer” In the original article, Vu describes “In the actual world, there are power dynamics and implicit biases at play, so nothing is ever really ‘optional.’ There is always tremendous pressure built into these campaigns, whether you intend for it or not.” I find this to be true, regardless of the culture. When the *boss* asks me to donate, well I better donate shouldn’t I? And that makes it weird. Better to take it out of the equation, and leave it to me to make decisions where I put my time and treasure.

Claire, I’ve been following this for the last few days and have commented over on the Nonprofit AF blog. I finally am compelled to comment here today.

Not on the “substance” because many many good points have already been made. But on the privilege infused in the worldview and tone conveyed in your counter-argument, and your responses to others’ comments. Many others have commented on this, in particular an anonymous commenter, followed by Natale. In both, the responses you provided in themselves continued to convey an enormous amount of privilege in your perspectives.

Echoing others again, I sincerely urge you to sit down and examine that, in particular white fragility. Please.