10 • Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina
Opinion
February 1994
Finding common dreams
Crisis in black and white challenges communities
^"T^he Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
^ ' has done North Carolina a service
K by mapping the depth, breadth
JL and shape of racial attitudes
among blacks and whites in oim state.
The challenge now is to use that map to find
our way out of the isolated racial worlds we’ve
created within what ou^t to be cohesive com
munities that draw strength from the combina
tion of their diverse parts.
The results of the study of racial attitudes
are reported on Page 3 of this issue of the
Philanthropy Journal. And they’re not pretty.
The problems of our streets and our schools
are closely tied to race. Blacks and whites are
quick to see themselves as victims. The
prospect of violent upheaval
inhabits our nightmares. And
while blacks and whites claim
to want to cut through the walls that separate
them, neither group knows how.
What’s more, blacks and whites have Uttle
contact with one another, and when they do,
they have a hard time talking straight on race.
In fact, to ensure greater honesty among
people who participated in focus groups for the
study, the Reynolds Foundation’s consultant
separated whites from blacks and, further, sep
arated black men from black women. Our col
lective failure to commimicate runs deep.
The dilemma now facing the Reynolds
Foundation — and the rest of us — is what to
do with the comprehen
sive and disturbing data it
has collected. Launching
an initiative that has the primary aim of
improving race relations by asking blacks and
whites to attend meetings and talk to one
another mi^t get people talking and thinking,
but to be effective it would have to go beyond
preaching to the choir and attract a broad
spectrum of the community.
A better idea would be to identify existing
efforts that are trying to rebuild communities.
Communities are failing for many reasons, not
least of which are the anger, misunderstanding
and distance between blacks and whites. Yet
regardless of their race, people share common
dreams — healthy children, safe streets, effec
tive schools, productive jobs.
Initiatives aimed at making those dreams
real are underway throu^out North Carolina,
and the most promising ones try to pull togeth
er the wealth of community resources that
often are isolated and unconnected.
The impetus for much of the collaboration
that’s taking place comes from grassroots non
profits. Those groups need to be supported to
expand their efforts throu^out their communi
ties and into other communities.
By tapping and linking their collective
resources, our communities can indeed begin
to repair themselves and heal our racial
wounds.
Nuts and bolts
Don’t let fundraising
blur mission
~W~ ~W~ ave you ever been frustrated by
f g putting all your effort and expe-
# # rience into a grant request or
JL. JL. making a donor-call, only to
learn that the funds have been channeled to
another organization or individual claiming to
do something similar but with little or no expe
rience?
Or, maybe a shortfall in donations leaves
you feeling like your only option is to “turn
stones into bread.” Or majdje you find yourself
cau^t up in the challenge of a new untested
idea that is just outside the mission and focus
of your organization, but you want to give it a
try anyway.
I don’t know about others, but when I look
at real human needs that require more funds
than our agency can provide, and I look at the
surrounding wealth, it is real easy to fall into
the trap of dreaming and scheming how to
increase funds at the expense of
paying attention to the “nuts and
bolts” of meeting human needs.
In my 12 years of working in
emergency assistance with our
Christian Ministiy, I have seen our
agency grow from a food pantry
and clothes closet to a full-fledged
crisis ministry providing a wide
range of financial emergency
assistance and other basic neces
sities such as household furniture
items.
scon
ROGERS
Scott Rogers is executive di
rector of the Asheville-Bun-
combe Community Christian
Ministry.
I
t is real easy to
tall into the trap of
dreaming and
scheming how to
increase funds at the
expense of paying
attention to the "nuts
and bolts" of meeting
human needs.
We have a Jail
and Prison
Ministry coordi
nating religious
services and activ
ities in the county
jail. We have a 90-bed emergency shelter with a
focus on employment, vocational rehabilitation,
mental health, physical health and meeting
spiritual needs. Our Medical Ministry is in its
third year of operating a clinic providing
access to a wide range of acute services and
health education. The support of 200 churches
and 2,000 volunteers means that we have to
stay very clearly focused on our mission and
purpose if we are to meet a wide variety of
complex needs.
The generosity exhibited through our
churches is also exemplified in the leadership
and strength of our human services system
throughout Buncombe County.
Through an annual assessment of
needs, and through the leadership
of United Way, city and county gov
ernment, and corporate and pri
vate foundation leaders, we have
been building successful coalitions
around targeted needs and popula
tions in our community.
Staying focused on the root
causes of poverty and Injustice, we
find ourselves better able to com
municate about the needs, to find
strength in sharing our resources
and to develop long-term models
Look for ROGERS, page 11
Breaking down walls
Turf wars hurt
community solutions
O ver the years, the A.J. Fletcher
Foundation has sponsored sever
al one-day conferences for non
profit agencies. The main topic of
these meetings has been fundraising, but pro
grams have also touched on administrative
development, board responsibilities and long-
range planning.
To my surprise, more than 500 people
attended our last conference, about Mce as
many as I originally had thought would come.
Clearly, there is a strong demand among non
profits for low-cost, focused “technical assis
tance.”
Reading through evaluations of the most
recent conference, however, I realized techni
cal assistance may have been a secondary ben
efit. What a large number of participants found
most helpful was nothing more than the forum
we had provided — the infrequent opportunity
to communicate and interact with
their colleagues. And it’s true that
a major obstacle for the nonprofit
manager, a chief cause of burnout,
is that persistent sense of loneli
ness: “Am I the only one out
here?”
Paradoxically, the refreshing
camaraderie of large conferences
does not always extend to day-to-
day operations, especially among
nonprofits tackling the same
issues. Granted, there are numer-
Tom McGuire is executive
director of the A.J. Fletcher Foun
dation in Raleigh.
I
here is
undeniable evidence
of division and
suspicion among
some agencies and
organizations
purporting to serve
the same
constituencies.
ous examples of
independent non
profits working
cooperatively to
solve community
problems.
By the same token, there is undeniable evi
dence of division and suspicion among some
agencies and organizations purporting to serve
the same constituencies.
For some, the trend could be explained as
“charting a new course;” for others, it’s more a
ease of “protecting turf.” Whatever the expla
nation, it is a phenomenon that should be
examined by funders, constituents and —
most important — the agencies themselves to
determine how joint planning and cooperative
efforts can produce the most effective results.
Why should a sense of insularity - “turfism”
- exist in any organization whose only purpose
is to serve a community need? On
one level, an insular condition
results from a lack of knowledge ,
and thus an inability to communi
cate. When we don’t know what our
colleagues are doing, or even that
we have colleagues in the field, we
cannot share successes, false start
or effective ideas with them —
ideas that mi^t idtimately benefit
us both.
On a more troublesome level.
Insularity sometimes exists pre
cisely because we do know what
our colleagues are doing. Obvious
Look for MCGUIRE, page 11
Philanthropy Journal
of North Carolina
The PMlamthfopy Jm irual
of North Carolina
is a monthly publication of
The News and Observer Foundation,
a 501(e) (3) private foundation
funded by The News and Observer
Publishing Co., Ralei^ N.C.
EDimRMDPmiisHm
TODD COHEN — (919) 829-8989
DimCTOR OFMARKEmG
AMDDemOPMMT
MARGUERITE LEBLANC — (919)829^1
STAfFWBFrm
BARBARA SOLOW — (919) 8298921
2. SMimREINOlDSMOSEPmS DANIELS
PHILANTHROPY NEWS FELWW
KATHERINE NOBLE - (919) 8298917
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT/DESIGNER
_ KENNY MONTEITH—(919) 8298988
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INTERNET: teolieii@iiaado.net
Bill Lee rolling up sleeves for Tar Heel kids
ill Lee’s plan to retire this year as
head of Duke Power will make him
t * one of the state’s most eligible phil
anthropists.
In addition to making the Charlotte utility
one of the most effective and respected in the
U.S., Lee’s civic leadership has made a huge
difference in his hometown and his state.
Now that he won’t be running a power com
pany, he’U have more time to devote to pubhc
service. And chances are, he’ll be in big
demand, particularly on the issues closest to
his heart - children and schools.
Lee says he won’t decide until next year
exactly how he plans to focus his energies. But
he’s clear about the challenges that North
Carolina faces.
“Our challenges can be expressed rather
simply, and that’s our children,” he says. “We
just have to do a better job of imparting to our
children values and opportunities. We’ve just
got to start, even with prenatal care, in raising
succeeding generations that are going to be
better than what we’ve got in society today.
Our highest priority is our children in all their
ABOUT CHANGE
dimensions.”
Leadership is tou^ to define, and it takes
many forms. A leader can lead by example, or
by force of will or intelligence, or by knowing
how to coax excellence from others.
In his business and civic undertakings, Lee
has managed to do all three. An engineer by
training, he has been a forceful and intelligent
leader of a company he has come to personify.
Yet he also is leaving that company with a deep
bench of skilled managers to whom he has dele
gated decision-making authority.
In Charlotte, Lee has enlisted others to
make things happen, particularly in the pubhc
schools. Three years ago, for example, he
assembled a group of business and civic lead
ers to figure out how to generate community
support to improve the public schools there.
The result was the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Education Foundation, which in turn has
raised money to support new initiatives in the
schools.
Lee says he expects to do something that
involves “interacting with children, interacting
with the education system at the local or state
level, raising money to help solve the problems,
trying to involve others in volunteering their
time to mentor.”
Whatever Lee does, you can be sure he will
get things done. And that’s good news for North
Carolina children.
IDEAS ON STEWARDSHIP
As reported on Page 3 of this issue. The
News and Observer Foundation and the
Philanthropy Journal are planning a
statewide conference this fall on stewardship.
The conference will be for boards and staffs
of nonprofits and foundations, as well as for
people who work in the for-profit and public
sectors and have an interest in philanthropy.
As we plan the conference, we’d like to hear
your ideas about how to deal with these sub
jects. If you have a suggestion, please call me at
(919) 8298989.
Todd Cohen