Defending My Profession

By Mark J. Drozdowski

Dear Andy,

Did you ever notice how some television personalities talk about subjects they're not terribly familiar with, just to fill a few minutes of air time? I have.

Take your recent 60 Minutes diatribe against fund raisers and direct mail, for example. You had plenty to say about us and our work. And although you weren't singling out college and university fund raisers per se, we still heard your message loud and clear. Why don't we take a closer look.

I happen to agree with your opening statement. "It's funny," you said, "but one of the most satisfying things about having money you worked so hard to get is giving some of it away. You'd think that would be easy, too, but it isn't." How true. I hear that from philanthropists all the time. Giving money away effectively is hard work. Almost as hard as raising it.

"I can never decide who to give to," you then admitted. "Everyone's after me." It may seem that way, so we try to limit how much mail we send you. But please forgive us if we're bugging you too much. Just let us know and we'll make a note of it. As you suggest, one sure way to reduce the volume is to stop giving ... but we certainly can't encourage such behavior.

You said you "don't like to give to an organization that uses any tricky way of raising money," and then you proceeded to ridicule us for sending address labels, stickers, and other gifts. I'm not sure about address labels, but we have been known to send car decals, refrigerator magnets, and the occasional fancy bookmarks.

Our methods are tricky, you said, because we're trying to make people feel guilty for not giving. We offer a gift and receive nothing in return. How shameful! Oh, and you chided us for using the term "free gifts," which I'll concede is redundant. Remember, though, that they're free to you, not to us. Try paying for 20,000 tchotchkes.

Sometimes we do, as you noted, call upon others to help tell our stories and make appeals. Famous alums are good for that, as are prominent faculty members. One organization caught your attention by featuring Walter Cronkite, whom they called "the most trusted fund raiser in America." I didn't know he held that distinction. Maybe that makes me "the most trusted journalist in America."

Speaking to university fund raisers directly, you said, "If you went to college, they never forget you." I assume you meant that sarcastically. But why should we forget you? Would you like us to? Should we stop sending the alumni magazine, invitations to homecoming and regional events, and other updates about what's happening on campus and with your fellow graduates?

It seems to me people like being part of an alumni family. They appreciate getting stuff from us, even when some of it asks them for money. Most know that we really need the money and that we're pretty good about spending it. For many alums, it boils down to pride: They want to help their alma mater thrive and, as conventional wisdom might have it, see the value of their degree correspondingly rise. Funny thing is, we often hear people complain when they don't get regular missives from us.

Let's get back to the matter of spending money well. You evidently don't think we do. "I'd like to have all the money my college spends for stamps on letters asking me for money," you said. We're with you there, Andy. Postage is a killer. That's why we're always experimenting with online giving and e-mail correspondence. You do use a computer, don't you? We're even putting alumni magazines on the Web to curb production and distribution costs. Give us credit for trying.

(I'm guessing I have your attention for another 30 seconds or so. I'd better wrap this up.)

To be fair, I can't say I blame you for calling us out on some of these tactics. We all need a curmudgeonly poke in the gut every now and then to keep us honest. And you're probably just echoing what many people already think about what we do and how we do it. Then again, from your pedestal you can't help but shape popular opinion, can you?

I suppose that's why your final comments stuck in my craw.

You said: "Every letter asking for a donation ought to say how much the fund raisers spend on getting us to give and how much they make for themselves." Well, I'll let you in on a little secret, Andy: We don't make much. We're not starving, but we're certainly not getting rich doing this. If you were implying that we're amassing small fortunes by skimming off the top of every donation, rest assured we're not. We have a word for such characters: felons. Please don't get folks thinking they're lining our pockets with every donation. You never know -- people might stop giving, and where would that leave us?

If you want to know how much our organizations spend on getting you to give, just ask us. We usually have those figures handy. Truth be told, it costs roughly a quarter to raise a dollar. For some institutions operating more efficiently or employing savvier fund raisers, that figure might be closer to a dime. For others, it's more like half a dollar, or even more. Direct mail, in particular, can be an expensive proposition. Those tchotchkes can add up.

So yes, it's true that it takes money to raise money, and that we spend millions raising billions. If you can come up with a better plan, we're all ears.

The clock is ticking.