[nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Sat Aug 28 03:03:31 UTC 2010


I concur with Steve's thoughts below. IN essence, the problem lies not so 
much with the fund-raiser itself but with the sensitivity of some of us to 
the possibility that we might be perceived as blind beggars. In fact, as 
Steve states, many organizations engage in similar fund-raising efforts. I 
submit that the antipathy of some in your chapter to this sort of 
fund-raiser says more about their thinking than it does the merit or lack 
thereof of such fund-raisers. To the extent that we have overcome our own 
negative stereotypes of blindness, I submit that we would be accepting of 
fund-raisers such as we describe and failing to take advantage of them shows 
that we have work to do in raising our own consciousnesses.

That being said, however, there is no question that in order for any 
organization to raise funds, it must exploit the wishes of those from whom 
it wishes to raise funds to have a feeling of superiority over those raising 
the money. Thus, the Federation must do a balancing act, gauging the 
effectiveness of fund-raising campaigns in exploiting the public's feelings 
of pity and/or superiority viz. the blind against the harm that exploitation 
of such feelings may do to the cause of our struggle for first-class 
citizenship.

Mike Freeman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 6:36 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising


> Robert,
>
> The objections I have heard regarding our philosophy and fundraising is 
> that some forms of fundraising are close to the stereotype of the blind 
> begging.  If
> this is what you are encountering, it is not easy to say that asking for 
> donations is different than begging except that the receiver is a 
> legitimate nonprofit
> organization.  At least in my mind, if it is clear that it is going to an 
> organization and not to an individual, if you are sometimes selling 
> donated goods, and if
> you are also supplying information, this makes it pretty clear to the 
> public that this is a fundraiser.  In the past here in Minnesota, we used 
> to have what were
> called white cane drives.  This involved one person on a street corner 
> with a labeled container to receive donations.  For many of us who were 
> young at the
> time, this was way too close to the beggar image, and although it was a 
> moderately successful fundraiser, we discontinued it.  However, I remember 
> Dr.
> Jernigan saying something to the effect that a philosophy and the work we 
> have to do needs financial support to succeed.  I remember he said he 
> would
> have no qualms about begging if it meant the survival and expansion of our 
> organization.  Even so, he did make attempts to make our mail appeals more
> positive than were some of our early mail appeals, and our public service 
> announcements that were created in the 1980's were positive as well.
>
> I think it is good for us to think about the image we project when we are 
> raising money.  In my mind, we don't want to raise money to create a 
> better image of
> blindness only to have it dammaged by the very process of raising that 
> money.  Still, one has to accept the fact that any nonprofit seeking 
> donations is
> asking the public to donate without getting a complete return on their 
> donation.  What you describe seems to me to be a pretty common type of 
> fundraising
> and is not at all unique to blind persons.  I just don't see any real 
> conflict with our philosophy in it but would be interested to here more 
> about the objections.
> If the people working at the tables project a positive image by looking 
> good and being articulate, the public is smart enough to know the 
> difference.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> On Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:38:28 -0500, Robert Leslie Newman wrote:
>
>>I have a question of NFB philosophy. I bring it to this list because I 
>>know
>>and want you all to give it to me straight from the philosophical 
>>shoulder.
>
>>
>
>>Here is the situation: There is a debate upon the acceptability of the
>>following method of fund raising. There are some in my local chapter, in 
>>the
>>affiliate in my state, in the division where I am the President, who feel
>>that the below method of solicitation donations is not philosophically
>>acceptable under NFB philosophy; some of the membership feel that the way 
>>it
>>is being handled is acceptable. Do read the description I present and give
>>us your feelings.
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>I am part of the Omaha chapter and for years I have participated in the
>>Wal-Mart "Meet and greet." And note the title that we've given it, "Meet 
>>and
>>Greet."
>
>>
>
>>Allow me to set the scene- It is 10:00 AM, we have two six foot tables
>>setup: one is outside the doors from the grocery store entrance and the
>>other outside the general merchandise entrance. There is a large banner
>>stretched across the full length of the front of the table, running just
>>below the table-top, from the legs on the right hand side, to those on the
>>left. The Banner is in the NFB colors of dark blue letters on a white
>>background- it reads "National Federation of the Blind, Omaha chapter." 
>>The
>>chapter members manning the table are also wearing NFB labeled clothing.
>
>>
>
>>On the table-top, There are stacks of a variety of NFB literature , a 
>>large
>>donation jar, a slate and stylist for taking notes, someone's long white
>>cane lying the full length of the table and a bill-identifier (we will
>>demonstrate and even give change). Then yes, we will have some item to 
>>sell
>>to the potential donator; the item having been donated or purchased at a 
>>low
>>price, in order that we do monetarily gain from the transaction. (You know
>>how this must go; this is a fund raiser, as well as an opportunity to
>>educate the public.)
>
>>
>
>>The members who "people" the table either sit behind the table or stand to
>>the side or out front to better engage the flow of customers coming in and
>>out of the store.
>
>>
>
>>"Would you like to give a donation to the Omaha Chapter of the National
>>Federation of the Blind?" Or, "Would you like to purchase a Mother's Day
>>Flower and support the National Federation of the Blind?" Is one of 
>>several
>>different types of short, quick phrases that you might hear me or others
>>say, as we hear new people traffic coming or going. These customers are
>>always speeding by on their personal business and we learned long ago, 
>>that
>>what ever you say needs to be quick and to the point.
>
>>
>
>>Then, as a potential donator approaches the table, you might hear, "Would
>>you like to help us do our work?" And/or "do you know a blind person?" Or,
>>"Let us tell you about the Federation and what we do." And, knowing that
>>most of these people are in a hurry to go about their business, we would
>>hand them one of each of our broachers, saying something like "Please take
>>these; we would like to tell you about our organization." And of course, 
>>if
>>the person is inclined to visit, we will go into as much depth about
>>blindness as possible (answering their questions is always the priority).
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>Some times, there will be a second organization similarly setup and across
>>the entrance from us- like the "Make A Whish Foundation."
>
>>
>
>>
>
>>Robert Leslie Newman
>
>>President- NFB Writers' Division
>
>>Division Website
>
>>http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
>
>>Personal Website-
>
>>http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
>
>>
>
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>
>
>
>
>
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