Fund Raising
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14
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina
Women are top givers
A survey by Louis Harris and
Associates shows mothers
believe more in charitable giving
than fathers.
E ■ ■ ■ ■ ElEI
February 1994
By Bea Quirk
» ike most college seniors, Don
f Sanders didn’t really know what
I he wanted to do after he graduat-
f ed. Although he loved music and
was minoring in it, it didn’t grab
his imagination. Problem was, neither did soci
ology, his major, or his other minor, psycholo
gy-
Then he visited a facility for the mentally-
disabled elderly people.
“I was appalled by what I saw there, and I
guess it called to my reformist spirit,” says
Sanders, 59, who will retire later this year after
19 years as president of the United Way of
Central Carolinas Inc. in Charlotte. “It helped
push me to a resolution of a career choice.”
After graduating from Duke University in
1956, the native of Washington, enrolled in the
School of Social Work at the University of
Stepping down
Don
Sanders’
legacy of
conununity
philanthropy
After 34 years with Charlotte’s United
Way, Don Sanders is retiring this year.
He leaves a legacy of connecting the
United Way and the community.
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his
master’s degree two years later.
After serving two years as director of the
United Fund of Aiken County in South
Carolina, Sanders in 1960 joined what was then
United Community Services in Charlotte.
In Charlotte, he says, he found “a commit
ment to the community that’s more than
enlightened self-interest.
“The business leadership is expected to be
involved, and new people are supposed to filter
themselves into the community life,” he says.
Many would say Sanders’ influence and
leadership has helped give Charlotte that kind
of spirit.
“The United Way in Charlotte has been
regarded all along — and still is — as a part of
the essential good character of the city,” says
Gordon Berg, Sanders’ predecessor and mentor
who left the United Way in 1975 to become
president of the Foundation For The Carolinas.
“And I think that’s partly a reflection of the
character of Don Sanders and his great integri
ty-”
During Sanders’ tenure, the United Way of
Central Carolinas has grown from 33 service
agencies in Mecklenburg County and a dozen
staff members to its 65 agencies in
Mecklenburg, Union and Cabarrus counties
and a staff of 65. During the 1993 campaign,
volunteers raised $18.05 million, the most ever
for the organization, but about $500,000 short
of its goal. For 36 strai^t years, the goal was
always met.
need
connections to
one another,
and the United
Way is a
connecting
system, a way of
bringing people
together to solve
community
issues.
DON SANDERS
President
United Way of Central
Carolinas
Photo by Nancy Pierce
No one denies the importance of fundraising
to the United Way, and the organization is
proud of its accomplishments in this area. But
it is tor planning, collaboration and proactively
finding solutions to community human service
problems that Sanders receives his greatest
kudos.
“We’re not just a fundraising organization,
and Don emphasized social planning very heav
ily,” says Berg.
Ruth Shaw, vice president of corporate com
munications tor Duke Power Co. and chairman
of the United Way board, says that Sanders is a
“coalition-builder. ”
“He has a real skill of seeing an issue and
Look for SANDERS, page 15
P
eople
On their own
Former Ketchum fundraisers start firm
A new fundraising firm, with
headquarters in Charlotte and
three operating divisions, has
named former Bowman Gray
development chief Dallas
Mackey as chairman of the
board of its Winston-Salem divi
sion. First Counsel also has
signed an out-of-court settle
ment with Ketchum Inc.
By Todd Cohen
North Carolina has a new kid on
the fundraising block.
First Counsel Inc. in Charlotte
was formed last May by four former
employees of the Charlotte office of
fundraising giant Ketchum Inc. in
Pittsburgh.
The young firm has begun three
operating divisions — in Winston-
Salem, Atlanta and Washington —
and is negotiating partnership agree
ments with 30 to 40 fundraising pro
fessionals on the East Coast.
And it has contracts with about a
dozen clients, including half a dozen
that plan fundraising campaigns.
FCl recently named Dallas
Mackey, former chief development
officer for the Bowman Gray/Baptist
Hospital Medical Center in Wmston-
Salem, as chairman of the board of
First Counsel South, the company’s
Winston-Salem arm. Mackey ateo has
been named to the FCI board.
FCl’s strategy is to provide
clients with fundraising profession
als familiar with local communities
at a lower price.
“My personal goal is to bring to the
market the most professional and
responsive fundraising service we pos
sibly can within a pricing structure
that makes it available to a broad
range of philanthropic organizations,”
says Alex McNair, FCl’s president.
If it is hired for a campaign, FCI
will send a
partner to
manage the
campaign at
the client’s
offices, typi
cally for six to
10 months.
FCI charges a
flat fee based
on the time
that an FCI
partner works
with a chent.
Dallas Mackey
FCI also has formed alliances
with Robin A. Smith Communi
cations Inc. in Charlotte, VanDer-
Kloot Film & Television Inc. in
Atlanta and System Support Services
Inc. in Charlotte. Those firms can
provide FCI clients with marketing,
video production and compnter soft
ware services, respectively.
FCI also offers executive leasing,
periodic counseling, government lob
bying and donor research.
The break from Ketchum by FCl’s
founders prompted Ketchum to file a
court complaint in Charlotte, which
was settled ont of court.
Robert Carter, president and chief
executive officer of Ketchum, says
the agreement was “amicable.”
“Anything they do is a reflection
of what they learned at our firm,” he
says.
Ketchum, which will be 75 years
old tins year, is the world’s oldest and
largest fundraising firm.
McNair would not comment on the
settlement, saying it prohibits the
parties from discussing the dispnte
or settlement.
He says he and his former
Ketchum colleagues believed Char
lotte and the region “merited a major
fundraising firm to be headquartered
here that focused intensely on provid
ing service to the Southeast from a
local perspective.”
Gaining ground
Report says
alternative
funds grow
A report by the National
Committee for Responsive
Philanthropy says that the
growth in workplace giving to
alternative funds is outpacing
the growth in giving to the
United Way.
By Katherine Noble
While giving at the workplace is a
decades-old tradition in the U.S.,
that pattern of giving may be chang
ing radically.
“Charity in the Workplace 1993,”
a report by the National Committee
for Responsive Philanthropy, says
Look for ALTERNATIVE, page 15
BRIEFLY
Museum launches
membership drive
St. John's Museum of Art in
Wilmington has launched a
"1500 Plus" membership
drive through March.
Membership support of the
museum makes up 30 per
cent of costs of exhibits,
tours, classes and lectures.
Emily Barefoot will head the
campaign.
Barton College
raises $6 million plus
Barton College in Wilson
raised more than $6 million
toward its $10 million
fundraising goal. The money
to be raised during the five-
year drive will be used for an
endowment, new equipment
and building improvements.
K.D. Kennedy Jr. of Raleigh
is chairman of the campaign
Steering Committee.
Alliance endorses
donor rights
The Alliance of Nonprofit
Mailers in Washington, DC
is the lastest organization to
endorse a Donors Bill of
Rights, which outlines infor
mation charitable givers
have a right to expect from
charities. The bill was devel
oped by national fundraising
and educational organiza
tions.
Appalachian State
awards scholarships
Appalachian State University
in Boone awarded more
than $81,000 in scholar
ships during the 1993-94
academic year. The college
assisted 98 students through
43 scholarships supported
by interest on endowments
or annual contributions.
Elon College
hits $15 million
Elon College has raised $15
million in its $18 million
capital campaign. Funds will
be used for endowments,
renovation of a gymnasium,
the annual leadership fund
and library, science and
communications facilities.
Journal to examine
capital campaigns
:ln March, the Philanthropy
Journal will take o bak at
capital campaigns planned
or underway in North
Carolina. To help us:make
our report as comprehensive
os possible, please let us
know if your nonprofit is
involved in o campotgn. Caff
Barbara Solow at (919j
.829-8921 by Feb. 9.