I recently attended an international conference on fundraising, hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. There were a multitude of workshops and presentations one could attend and some exceptionally thoughtful and inspiring presenters, some filling huge halls at the San Diego Convention Center. I spent three days there hunting and gathering (and planting). In part, I am gathering the so-called "tools of the trade," the trade being a sort of
sales and marketing with heart. It's a novel use of the cold, unfeeling tricks of marketing, the intended result being that donors agree to give their money
for a good cause. At the conference I was as amazed by the degree of ethics that infuses the philanthropic trade (or, as I called it, the philanthropic
industry) as I was by the number of fundraising professionals (
duh, this is a fundraising professionals convention).
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| TWC Bluff Lake Reserve |
There are tens of thousands of fundraising professionals working on behalf of nonprofits large and small, scattered throughout the world. Universities, hospitals, shelters for the abused, services for the down-and-out. If you can think of some area of the human experience that could use some help, there's likely an organization with a mission to bring help, light, education, love, and money to it. It is, in a way, the ultimate "redistribution of wealth,"
socialismo. I've thought this for many years, that western capitalism presents us with the best opportunity for human transformation. Communism represents some notion that individuals in a society must be forced to share, that no individual should benefit at the expense of another. Of course, we know this is a laughable idea, that this system, however it may be well-intended, has never worked. It is as much a breeding ground for greed as any other; more so because greed in that setting is an even greater travesty.
Communism—and to an extent, socialism—as a system of governance will always fail, because our extraordinary greatness as human beings requires that we have the opportunity to give of ourselves [and our wealth] freely.
Giving, philanthropy, is perhaps the single greatest opportunity in our short lives, the most golden of opportunities for transformation, as much for the donor as for the recipient...maybe more. To be deprived of this opportunity, as with communism, is an injustice. The great argument rages these days (and has for decades, of course), how much socialism can we tolerate in our society? Most enlightened souls agree
we are all in this together, and some lesser or greater degree of government-guided social welfare is appropriate. Because we humans are still wrestling with that "deadly" sin, greed, we agree that some degree of wealth redistribution is acceptable. Trickle-down economics is a wonderful, watercourse, idea but evidently a bit before its time.
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| TWC Jenner Headlands Preserve |
Of course, every religion under the sun reflects what we already know inside, that we are indeed
all in this together. I believe the Buddha said something to the effect,
no one enlightened until all are enlightened (with apologies to scholars of Buddhism). Bear with me here—I'm trying to wrap back around to my original thought for this post. Let's see, fundraising professionals, communism, greed, enlightenment...ach, maybe I'll simply cut to the chase and see how it fits.
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| Friends on top of Galena Peak |
"Forget I asked." Ever hear that phrase? It's usually uttered when someone else has either ignored our request or just not heard us in some way or another. Like the phrase "judge not lest ye be judged," I'd like to turn this one on its head. I'm asking you to give to support The Wildlands Conservancy...now, "forget I asked." Here's what I mean (and why): I invite you to discover your own giving heart. To give, not in response to my asking, but in response to your own desire.
You truly deserve the credit, the "points in heaven" for your generosity. Really, it has nothing to do with me, at least that's how I hope it will be. All I can do is
hint to you what is already there inside of you. Consider this: your generosity changes others' lives, gives support, lends a hand, builds a community. Supporting The Wildlands Conservancy helps to preserve treasured places where you and your family and friends and their family and all of us can walk, camp, picnic, and connect (or reconnect) with an essential goodness of nature.
Whether or not you contribute to The Wildlands Conservancy, I thank you for reading this. Let's find the time to go for a walk. Yes, soon.
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