‘Dream Houses’ and Golden Handcuffs |
Sep 25, 2009 |
I regularly hear about and come across traditional/transactional fundraising (ttf) techniques and events that are predictably ineffective. Earlier this week, a SF Chronicle headline caught my attention: ‘Raffle for Marin ‘Dream House’ Benefits Charity.’
I was intrigued. Author Dana Perrigan opens the piece as follows:
“Not many dreams come with a view. Or an elevator. This one – all 3,200 square feet of it – has both.”
That’s right. For $150 – the price of a raffle ticket – you can buy yourself a chance to win a three-story, custom-built contemporary ‘Dream House’ in Marin valued at $2M.
In the last two years, the house raffle has netted $1.6 and $1.2 million respectively for Community Action Marin. Given the clients they serve are poor and homeless Marin residents, it’s ironic that the ‘Dream House’ is a sprawling luxury home in a gated community.
Executive Director, Gail Theller, recognizes this irony – as well as the constraint of a successful fundraising event which does zilch to enhance individuals' understanding of the cause.
‘It’s ironic that a poverty program is associated with so much luxury. We’ve been very successful, and now we’re known as the agency that has these raffles. I’d like to be known as the agency that helps the down and out.”
Sadly, I hear Theller confirming that CAM has compromised its organizational values to chase money. Is she also lamenting the weight of her 'golden handcuffs?' From our transformational giving perspective, we should lament since the raffle with its emphasis on a huge luxurious prize directly violates TG principle #3 which says it’s better to give than to receive.
When I shared this article with my colleagues, lively discussion ensued. Let me pass on a couple of great insights:
From Matt Bates, Regional Giving and Training Officer, California:
"Success in fundraising is a greater trap than failure. The organization will develop systems to support—and donors will build expectations around-- whatever is working, even if it’s ttf that’s working. Then they get stuck maintaining the system. It happens all the time. People need to ask themselves, “What will we do if this works beyond our wildest expectations?”
Suzanne Dubois, Senior Giving and Training Officer, Colorado, replied:
"I’ve had more than one conversation with a ministry who is involved in a fundraising event of one kind or another that is completely unsynecdochic with their ministry (golf, jog-a-thon, etc.), but can’t pull themselves from it because of the money it brings in. (Of course, for many the total is never what it seems when you figure in the work involved and costs to do it, but some actually do raise a decent amount of money.) The problem is that they either can’t see beyond the green, or they don’t know how to end it because once they do, they suddenly have a huge hole in their budget (since they’ve been raising one-time gifts instead of champions committed to the cause.) Sometimes we have to take two steps backward to get back on the right path, even though it will create some hardship."
Speaking of ‘the right path,’ carefully read the fine print before you buy a ticket for the February 20 raffle. In the comment section after the CAM article, gvn_lvs_billy wrote,
‘Excellent house! And it’s only a 3 minute walk to the gates of San Quentin!
