Fundraising FAIL (Reminder: Hug Your Volunteers)

Volunteers, fundraisers, and donors are human and don’t take kindly to being slighted. Especially by the board they’ve dedicated years of service to. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the story of the Brooklyn Museum Community Committee, a group of largely older women some of whom had invested more than 50 years in time and funding of the museum only to be curtly disbanded by the board who decided to shift to professional fundraisers. The committee had a documented level of success for years, raising funds since 1948. In the late 1990s, their annual ball netted $850,000. Many of the committee members included the museum in their wills but after feeling discarded and unappreciated, those wills are being revised.

The point being that these women were personally invested and they felt their time, efforts and money were worth more than a sudden disbanding with a note of thanks and a pin from the museum gift shop.

One can imagine that a board faced with a fundraising committee with some of their members in their 90s, might be thinking in terms of succession. Opting for professional fundraisers is not unreasonable but possibly there could have been a more respectful way to proceed. Maybe some sort of blended committee with the volunteers and the professionals or a phase out. Maybe even just asking the committee themselves what their suggestions were for a 5 year plan and succession.

One member who had bequeathed her personal art collection, including valuable prints from Rauschenberg, has since changed her will and those prints will now go to the Jewish Museum of New York. The Brooklyn Museum now has garnered negative press, lost funding, bequests, and general goodwill.

With the nonprofit sector news lately reminding everyone that the job market is opening up and employee retention is going to come down to work satisfaction, job meaningfulness, and generally being appreciated, it is imperative to keep those same concepts in mind with volunteers and committed donors. Don’t forget to show them your love and appreciation!

Source: WSJ

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