Interesting Bit on Fundraising

This is Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Tonight I heard him speaking about fundraising for the Lincoln Center on Marketplace, a public radio program.



Here is the link to listen for yourself: http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/marketplace/2007/10/25_mpp?start=00:20:00.5&end=00:26:20.0


Among other insights into fundraising, Levy highlighted the privilege he has of giving his donors the opportunity of contributing to the greatness of the Lincoln Center. He said that he sees himself as doing givers an enormous favor because their gift actually gives meaning to their lives that they would not otherwise have.

I found this to be very encouraging in the midst of gearing up our funraising efforts. It was inspiring to hear his confident excitement about raising money for the Lincoln Center and I empathized with his perspective on donors as participants in the organization to which they are giving.

Giving to Creative Differences offers similar meaning as giving to the arts. You are making it possible for hope to be generated in the midst of difficult circumstances in ways that have not been considered before. There is great potential for new approaches to helping others when creativity is encouraged and people are given the opportunity to share their giftedness with the world. There are similarities between Creative Differences and the Lincoln Center. However, we are going a step further and asking others to participate in the work of generating hope through creativity. Try asking the Lincoln Center to let you play in the New York Philharmonic!