When is the solicitation of donations to fund NFB projects conducted in such a manner that it goes against NFB philosophy?
The first section of this document is a copy of an email that I composed and then sent to a main NFB mailing list, NFBtalk. Within the message body, I described a fund raising event that the Omaha Chapter has held over the past 5 years.
The second section is a listing of responses in the form of emails from NFBtalk and other individuals who I either emailed directly for their input and./or learned of my project and intent. There are 19 emails from 17 authors.
----- Original Message ----- it to this list because I know you will 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 of 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. 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 , Braille alphabet cards, 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." --- Responses: **1. Robert, I can't imagine what objection anyone would have to this type of fund raising. You're selling something to raise funds, and providing information about the NFB, via the literature you're handing out. People are free, however, to simply accept the literature or make a donation, if they choose and don't want to purchase the item you have for sale. I really don't know what, in our philosophy, would prevent such fundraising. It sounds like a good idea, to me. I'd like to use the idea in our chapter. Cindy **2. Hello Robert and everyone, Our chapter does this very sort of fundraising. We have done quite a number of these throughout greater San Antonio with more scheduled for Meet-the-Blind Month. In addition to the activities described below we're planning to have demonstrations of various alternative techniques used by the blind and plan to have a laptop present in order to allow visitors to view our Web sites, subscribe to our email lists, sign up for NFB Newsline for the Blind, etc. Your chapter is not alone in conducting fundraisers of this kind. In fact we received a pretty hefty donation from a visitor during one of these meet and greet activities. Hope this helps. Peter Donahue **3. Well, Robert, I would be hard pressed to find anything objectionable in what you are planning to do. For my part, I'd go for it. Sincerely, **4. 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 **5. I don't see anything wrong with this approach. Most nonprofits and other organizations raise funds. You are doing so in a positive way. Dave **6. 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 **7. Very interesting post. I don't think it is a bad thing as stated by Cindy, although my immediate feelings may not fall in line with foundational NFB philosophy. It appears that an event like this does have the potential to
reduce and counteract the ideology, that the blind have fallen to a level that they are now acting like second class citizens, in a sense seeking charitable donations. If I may expand, it conjurs up the image of where the term handicap came from, and if I am thinking down the right lines, this is what the NFB has worked so hard to move away from and indeed has done so quite well over the years of it's existence. Kind of the Jerry Lewis telethon type image as well, but we also can dispute this in stating that persons who are blind are out in the community, educating on the philosophical construct of the NFB, and doing what it takes to better inform the public that the blind are really no different than anyone else. I will think more on this one though. We will be doing something similar with our Chapter but it is a silence the car event at a race track, and donations are asked for a swing, and it will be an opportunity to meet the blind as well from our area. We just couldn't pull off having a blind racing night, as this would have been what we really wanted as it would show that we can do anything we put our efforts toward. Maybe next year. Steven **8. Actually, the term "handicap" comes from an entirely different origin than the folk-wisdom would have it, having nothing to do with a "cap in hand". Ah well. I always wanted to have a blind demolition derby but figured the insurance would be too high! (grin) Mike **9. the long and the short of it is this. No matter how you ask for money, thee will always be some who see it as begging. Bearing that in mind, I guess that, for me at least, the line would be if I had to stand on a street corner with a tin cup in my hand and ask for money; "Alms for the blind?" you know, like that. I'd rather die first. Sincerely, **10. Robert: You'll probably get as many answers as there are people posting answers. For me, standing on a corner with a tin cup or bucket with no literature to pass out or items to sell would qualify as being unacceptable. Also unacceptable would be banners or literature touting a fund-raiser that said things like "Help blind persons escape a world of darkness by contributing to the National Federation of the Blind of [name of chapter or affiliate]" or the like. Put another way, I like fund-raisers that either sell something or through which we can distribute literature that tells what we do, what our goals are and how we plan to get there with very little effort to tug on the heart strings. Let's put it this way: why did we not object to telephone soliciting
(telemarketing) which was the backbone of fund-raising for many affiliates until fairly recently whereas some bridle at direct appeals? I submit it is simply that some of us don't like to get our hands dirty, so-to-speak. I'll tell you of a funny incident that happened to me something like twenty years ago. I was at a local all-purpose shopping center selling candy-bars for our chapter by myself. The center had a deli and coffee shop so I went in and got a huge cup of coffee, it being rather brisk out in the foyer where I was selling. The cup had a lid with a slot on it. So I was selling these candy-bars and drinking my coffee. Darned if a fellow didn't walk up and shove a quarter in the slot of my coffee cup! What did I do? I drank the rest of the coffee so I could get a quarter and went and got a coffee reload! (grin) Mike **11. Robert, I do agree with Mike, and the point that really jumps out at me is the idea of telephone soliciting which just simply reminds me of the Jerry Lewis approach, which in a round about sense, is begging. Most certainly, the most acceptable approach from my viewpoint is having a product/s to offer as it reiterates the importance of the blind in our communities, not as individuals in need, but rather individuals who are concerned about how society perceives us. If we are simply asking for dollars to support us, then we might as well as change our mission and philosophy. However, through education and using beneficial across the line products that can be used by anyone, this supports what we want to achieve, and doesn't reduce us to what we have worked so hard to overcome in being perceived as second class citizens. It seems like what some of your membership may be stating, is that we are buying into this through some of the fund-raising events our affiliates and chapters conduct throughout a years time. As much as we do not want to appear *needy*, we also understand the amount of funding it takes to keep the NFB running at all levels from National, to State affiliates to chapters and even to foster the leadership of our younger generations to embrace and forge ahead into the future with the NFB philosophy. I would also be curious to find out from you if those who expressed concern, are of a younger generation, older generation or one in the middle of those who embrace the NFB philosophy. Robert, I don't know if it is so much of a written policy thing, or more of an engrained attitude that founded the principles of the NFB, but I do like the idea of providing a handful of fund-raising scenarios that would be NFB philosophically acceptable, not acceptable, and those that fall into the grayer area as it would create for great discussion and possibly getting to the root of where these thoughts and feelings truly stem from. I wish you well, and it sounds like you have a great thing going! Yours in Federationism, Steven Johnson **12. Subject: RE: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
Hi Robert and all All nonprofits do such fundraising. I personally think that selling items is not a problem. People do not think about fundraising when they bu girls scouts cookies. They just buy the cookies. So do they buy nuts or candy bars from us.
Handing literature is a different matter. Our chapter has clear plastic bins in which we place our brochures for people to have. When they come to the table, we mention them. The brochures are visible and each have a different topic. Brochures on aging, diabetes, and Newsline go into one three tiered bin. The second similar bin has information about Braille and the parents division. A third bin has fundraising information like imagination fund and books. People can see the information available and take what they want. We stay busy with the sale or the games we have for the kids. We do answer questions but do not force the literature on the people. This is my >idea of providing information and not begging. Yasmin Reyazuddin **13. Ray, I agree with you 100% as far as you've gone. But I'd add that, IMO, if the NFB says, "We can't do fund raising like everybody else because of how it looks", that's a step backward. I say to heck with perception. Well, I'll admit that perception does matter.
But you just cannot let people's ignorance dictate *your* actions. **14. All, When is it begging and not selling? Used car dealers have been begging since Henry Ford push the first car off the assembly line and out the door. We get fifteen minutes+ of begging out of every hour of television. Even so, no one calls it begging but, rather it is selling or advertising. Organizations and companies the world over apply to other organizations and governments for grants through written applications. Is this begging or is this a legitimate method of securing needed funding through a recognized process whereby the "most worthy" are funded? Many non profit organizations set up tables in shopping malls or outside in front of markets, or in any of a variety of places. They use the locations for a variety of purposes. They provide information and/or they sell products. Anyone had a good Thin Mint from the Girl Scouts lately? Robert nor his chapter is sitting or standing with a cup asking for money
because they need to provide for their basic needs. Instead they are doing
exactly what any other similar organization does. We should be proud of the fact that we have progressed to the point where we are an organization out in the community participating as do others and we even are asking for funding for the organization just as do others for their projects. Many people do not like to stand out in public pitching their wares nor educating. Some like this and do it well. I suspect more of the "begging"
arguments comes from a discomfort of being the asker than anything else.
However, the issue is a proper one to discuss. Some of us have been selling professionally all our lives, or at least most of our lives. The fact is we all sell every time we try to convince someone of something. We sell when we talk with the restaurant proprietor about why our guide dogs are allowed into their establishments. We are selling when we answer any question about blindness. We are selling a concept and not a physical product but, we are selling none the less. The NFB has never said efforts such as what Robert proposes are "begging".
This kind of thing offers the best opportunity to educate and integrate more into society. My only comment is that those who participate should do so proudly and project the image that they belong out there just as does anyone else. We are people and citizens first and we happen to be blind. As a point of selling, instead of saying "Would you please buy" or "Would you help..." say "I would appreciate you..." or "I would like to invite you to...". Asking questions where the typical and most obvious response from most of us is a definite "no" will yield that response. Inviting or saying "I would appreciate..." doesn't offer the same immediate "no" response.
This technique will yield positive results. Best, Mike Hingson (415) 827-4084
From: "Robert Leslie Newman"
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 7:38 AM
I have a question of NFB philosophy. I bring
From: Cindy Handel [cindy425.verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 7:07 AM
To: newmanrl.cox.net; NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Peter Donahue
[pdonahue1.sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 9:07 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
From: Ray Foret Jr [rforetjr.comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 9:24 AM
To: newmanrl.cox.net; NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Steve Jacobson
[steve.jacobson.visi.com]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 8:36 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
From: David Andrews [dandrews.visi.com]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 9:12 PM
To: newmanrl.cox.net; NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Mike Freeman
[k7uij.panix.com]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 10:04 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Steve Johnson
[stevencjohnson.centurytel.net]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 10:41 PM
To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Mike Freeman
[k7uij.panix.com]
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 11:04 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
From: Ray Foret Jr [rforetjr.comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2010 7:25 AM
To: newmanrl.cox.net; NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Second go at- Question on NFB philosophy of fund
raising
The Constantly Barefooted Ray!!!
From: Mike Freeman [k7uij.panix.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2010 4:55 PM
To: newmanrl.cox.net; NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Second go at- Question on NFB philosophy of fund
raising
From: Steve Johnson [stevencjohnson.centurytel.net]
Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2010 7:09 AM
To: newmanrl.cox.net
Subject: RE: [NFB-talk] Second go at- Question on NFB philosophy of fund
raising-response off-list
From: Reyazuddin, Yasmin [Yasmin.Reyazuddin.montgomerycountymd.gov]
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 7:18 AM
To: newmanrl.cox.net; NFB Talk Mailing List
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of John Heim
[jheim.math.wisc.edu]
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 8:51 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Second go at- Question on NFB philosophy
offundraising
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Michael Hingson
[info.michaelhingson.com]
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 9:56 AM
To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Second go at- Question on NFB philosophyor fundraising
The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
“Speaking with Vision”
Michael Hingson, President
info.michaelhingson.com
www.michaelhingson.com
240-777-1495 (fax)
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Michael Bullis
[mabullis.hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 9:27 AM
To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'; newmanrl.cox.net
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
Hi Robert and all:
I think it is interesting thatwe've come so far in society that few of us give any thought to the dicotomy created by a blind person asking for donations. It puts me in mind of a conversation I had with a blind guy about twenty years ago. He told me that for work he played in a street duet with another blind guy in a southern city that shall remain nameless. He indicated that they put out a hat and people donated money. I asked him if he didn't feel funny about that--like people might see him as begging? He said, "No, we are giving fair value through our music and besides, we can't always control why people give." Several weeks later he and I were talking and he said that "today" had been a very slow day for the band. He said, "Mostly, we didn't play--just left the hat out and did make some money."
It seemed to me that he had lost the subtlety of the issue and that he was indeed now begging.
In essence, I think that context is everything. A literature table and people talking about the NFB is quite different than blind musicians who put out a hat.But, in either case, there will be those who will give because of pity and compassion rather than any clear understanding of our movement and what we stand for. We have decided over the years that the possibility of such misguided donations are worth the over all benefit of the education we do and the funds we obtain by the activity.
I wonder though if we could describe some activities that would be inappropriate. In other words, are there some activities you might think would resemble begging rather than public education and how would you define the activity so we could recognize it.
Mike Bullis
**16.
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of Drenth, Joe
[Joe.Drenth.JBTC.COM]
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 10:10 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
Hello all,
There are at least two reasons why someone would financially support a cause or individual:
1. Pity -- The person or group is incapable of providing for himself/herself/themselves. Weakness, dependence, and inability to survive without assistance are emphasized to invoke compassion and possibly guilt. This is begging.
2. Cooperation -- The cause represented by the person or group is a worthy one, and contributions to further its programs is a way of showing agreement with the work being done. Financial support is given to encourage those on the front lines and to further the reach of the efforts. Information about those who are directly helped through the financial support can be provided as evidence of the good and just purposes of the cause, such as statistics about children who are at risk of being illiterate without proper Braille training.
Setting up a table to raise funds could be done in such a way that it leans in either one of these directions, but I think the second approach more adequately matches the philosophy of the NFB.
Best regards.
**17.
M Bullis"
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
One thing that occurs to me is that we're several generations in America away from the 1930's when begging was seen as a large activity among blind people. The Randolph-Sheppard program was started as an alternative to that activity. Most Americans have never seen blind people regularly begging as a part of their community so don't necessarily equate blindness with begging. Those of us born in the 50's were still close enough to relate and certainly there is a strong flavor of blindness and begging in American and other literature.
So, it may be that those of us who are older are more sensitive than Younger people about an image that has for the most part not been a part of our culture for two or three generations.
I just read the annual publication by Beloit College on the mindset of the students who are starting college today. Perhaps one of them should be: "for this generation blind people have never been beggars.”
Mike Bullis
**18.
From: nfb-talk-bounces.nfbnet.org on behalf of qubit
[lauraeaves.yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 10:55 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Question of Philosophy- fund raising
There are still sighted "pan handlers" asking strangers for money in the big cities. It is actually a big problem that a blind person wouldn't see and which I wouldn't have known about unless my friends and family told about them. (Sure, they are in the news, but people pass them commuting to work.) What one friend of mine said about the problem in NY is that rather than hand them cash, which he knew might go for drugs or alcohol, he would sometimes invite one to join him for a meal at McDonald's. Then he would get the know the person. Anyway, with all the support available nowadays, a blind person would be less likely to end up on the street than a sighted person with less identifiable problems. It's kind of funny -- in the condo where we lived in NC a few years ago, there were panhandlers lined up near the intersection nearby. One of them came up to the car and asked for money (not a scary guy, just someone with a problem). I gave him something for a meal. So I had the white cane and he was taking the money. Kind of a strange twist that is not unusual in this crazy society.
--le
**19.
From: Gary Wunder [GWunder.earthlink.net]
Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 7:10 PM
To: newmanrl.cox.net
Subject: RE: Philosophy question- asking for donations
Hello Robert. Certainly there is nothing in the fund-raising setup you describe which is the least bit objectionable. The first thing to remember in fundraising is that you can't be so apologetic about having a need that you fail to show it to potential donors. We have to feel strongly enough about the good we do that we are willing to ask people to join us in it. Some who object to fundraising say that our philosophy of independence and self-sufficiency is at odds with asking for a dollar. Of course, we don't hold other organizations to that standard.
I think there is only one real test as to whether or not a fundraising project has merit and can be conducted by the National Federation of the Blind. Will people come away after seeing our fundraising opportunity feeling better or worse about the capabilities of blind people? I once objected to a fundraiser which was a blind rock-athon where people took up positions in rocking chairs to raise money. My own particular take on that event was that it perpetuated the stereotype that we are who are blind must be stationary at all times and that any real mobility was simply beyond our grasp. I do not feel that way about walkathon's, skate-a-thons, , or any other event which actually highlights us doing something.
I hope this helps. I do not want to go back to the days when the only way for a blind person to eke out a living meant carrying a tin can and playing an organ, but I can tell you that I feel strongly enough about the needs of blind people in the 21st century that I would beg rather than watch us go back to the place where we had to be taken care of by friends and family, and our caretakers were the people who drew the short straw.
Warmly,
Gary
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