A fundraiser's salary

amother

Mon, May 05 2008, 11:01 am

And somtimes a nice chunk of it goes to the driver. Where I live there are special meshulachim drivers who take people around town to all the richies, and they charge a certain percentage of what is collected. (OK a nice amount of these people are collecting for themselves)

YALT

Mon, May 05 2008, 10:34 pm

Clarissa wrote:

I told the story about my friend's fundraiser because I have great admiration for her, not because I think it should always be done that way. She is a wealthy woman. I do react when I hear that certain very upscale fundraisers (in LA and NY) cost millions, because of how elaborate the decor, food and entertainment. The people who give them and the people who attend could easily afford to underwrite them. To have 50% of the take go toward funding the party seems over-the-top to me. My friend pays for her event because she can, but also because she's 100% committed to her cause. I admire that. I'm not saying that everyone should go broke paying for charity work.

OK. that part I agree with - that some ppl go overboard with their parties. I don't think they need to be that extravagant.
I do understand that it needs to be elegant. Just not THAT much! And sometimes we don't understand why they put so much effort and money into it, but for certain baalei batim, they DO need it to be so fancy.

mimivan

Tue, May 06 2008, 12:21 am

Atali wrote:

I think that the fairest arrangement is for the fundraiser to get a base salary, plus incentives (a bit different from commission). For example, if the fudraiser raises over a certain amount per month, then he gets an extra bonus on his paycheck.

alot of these places cannot afford to give fundraisers a base salary...that why they need a fundraiser in the first place! (I'm talking about places in E.Y whicm mamash have nothing0

leomom

Tue, May 06 2008, 1:41 am

This is from http://thegrantplant.blogspot.......html. There's more - but these are the beginning paragraphs.

Quote:

Grant Writers On Commission

A grant writer should never be hired on commission. If a grant writer approaches your non profit organization offering to apply for grants in exchange for a percentage of the grants received - decline the offer. Grant writers accepting contingency pay is considered unethical in American professional fundraising.

The foremost national professional fundraising organization in the United States is the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). The AFP (http://www.afpnet.org/) requires members to adhere to a set of professional standards. The AFP considers raising funds on commission unethical. Membership may be revoked if it is determined that a member is raising money on commission. The Northwest Development Officers Association (NDOA), based in Seattle, also discourages members from raising funds for a portion of the money raised (http://www.ndoa.org/).

Why? Two reasons. First, if you request grant money for a specific program, project, building, etc. - the donor believes that is where 100% of their donation is going. Second, fundraisers are not supposed to develop relationships with donors - they're supposed to develop relationships between donors and your organization. In other words, when that fundraiser leaves the relationship between the donor and your organization is still in place - to receive donations now and in the future.

HooRYou

Tue, May 06 2008, 3:55 am

I think there is a difference between small and large donors.

Large donors, like foundations, can specify what their money is used for and what % if any can be used for adminsitration and overhead. These kinds of $$$ are usually raised by the grant writers and professional salaried fundraisers, like YY mentions. A lot of non-profits have to do very detailed regular audits to prove how the money they received was spent and send them back to their big donors.

Then there are the dontaions that you I give, 100 here 50 there, whatever. You probably can't stipulate when you give it how they will spend it. Also, even a fundraiser who goes to parlour meetings or other events doesn't have the power to make conditons like the bigger donors above. These smaller fundraiers also often get the 49% deal but have to pay ALL of their own expenses. SO if you are an Israeli fundraiser who goes top CHU"L you pay the airfare, food, transportation, etc. I know people whose DHs have tried it and even after the 49% deal they barely make anything after all the costs.

mimivan

Tue, May 06 2008, 4:53 am

HooRYou wrote:

I think there is a difference between small and large donors.

Then there are the dontaions that you I give, 100 here 50 there, whatever. You probably can't stipulate when you give it how they will spend it. Also, even a fundraiser who goes to parlour meetings or other events doesn't have the power to make conditons like the bigger donors above. These smaller fundraiers also often get the 49% deal but have to pay ALL of their own expenses. SO if you are an Israeli fundraiser who goes top CHU"L you pay the airfare, food, transportation, etc. I know people whose DHs have tried it and even after the 49% deal they barely make anything after all the costs.

Yes...

bonnie

Sat, Oct 25 2008, 10:47 pm

chocolate moose wrote:

I wish I lived as well as several fundraisders I see ...

And, how do you see them?
Are you aware that 40% of pledge sgo unpaid? And, half our time is spent trying to get p;edges paid?
When times are tough, organizations feel it more than businesses, but our services must continue. We go weeks ( including fund raisers like myself) without being paid.

For the record, it's much better to get paid by salary, not by commission.
And, that's how most fund raisers operate. If they get paid on commission, it's dependant on when funds come in.

bonnie

Sat, Oct 25 2008, 10:55 pm

[quote="mimivan"]

Squash wrote:

isn't the issue of percentage - how much a fundraiser can take for himself - a halacha issue?

This was checked with a rav...49 percent is normal and permitted in many circles[/quote

The highest I've ever seen an organization pay is 30%...I don't know of any organization that would agree to 49%...that's outrageous. Even people who collect the pushkas ( who pick up the cans) make an average of 4$ per can, or somehting like 25% of the can if they get the can, change the money into bills and get it to the organization. If they are simply picking up the can and dropping it by the office, they get 3-4 dollars.

bonnie

Sat, Oct 25 2008, 11:02 pm

[quote="mimivan"]

Squash wrote:

isn't the issue of percentage - how much a fundraiser can take for himself - a halacha issue?

pecan

Sat, Oct 25 2008, 11:49 pm

My dh is a fundraiser. It's funny how people prefer hearing that he gets a salary as opposed to a percent. He used to get a percent and earned less than he does now with a salary.
If you want someone to raise money and they are getting a salary - there must be an incentive for him to go out and raise more money. Why should he kill himself raising more money if he gets a salary anyway?
The best way is to have a salary for fundraisers that are starting out. Then once they are raising an agreed upon amount - such as double their salary - they can get their salary plus a certain commission on the amount they raise over a certain number.
For example, if someone makes 50,000 as a salary - then after he makes 100,000 he should also get a commission - not a very high one but enough to encourage him to raise more money.

bonnie

Sun, Oct 26 2008, 7:42 pm

It's tough being a women fund raiser, especially with an erratic schedule and when a donor expects you to drop everything for a meeting at THEIR time. I've scrambled to get baby sitters at 4/5/6 even 7 in the am!
Men just don't have the problems with scheduling like women fund raisers do..oh well! Hashem gave me this parnassah...so I do it! Tongue Out