Joseph K. Goepfrich, CFRE

While I was scanning the bookshelves in my home recently, I ran across a book that was given to me as a child many years ago by an elderly neighbor. For whatever reason, she decided to give me her copy of Aesop’s Fables, a small book containing about 150 pages of extremely short stories. At the end of each story there is a brief statement that is meant to be a lesson for one’s own life. Flipping through the pages of the book revealed some sage advice, such as “Durability is better than show,” “Those who play a trick must be prepared to take a joke” and “Honesty is the best policy,” something I think that rings true for all of us who are fundraising professionals.

As I delved deeper and read through Aesop’s Fables, it occurred to me that many of the stories were built on the premise of trust between two or more characters. It seemed that trust was either broken through acts of stupidity or was established through acts of kindness. In those instances where trust was broken, the note at the end of the story was a dire warning. The opposite was true when trust was established.

Pondering further, I recalled personal instances when the actions of others had built levels of trust. For example, shortly after I began working in my current position as vice chancellor for advancement at Purdue University North Central, I met a wonderful person who decided to establish a large endowment fund with our organization. She confided to me that it was a gift she was hoping to make for some time. However, she first made a small in-kind donation a few years earlier to see how my organization would respond to her gift. Fortunately, the people who were responsible for receiving that initial gift handled the matter well and kept in contact with her on a regular basis. As a result, she developed a sense of trust and believed that we would handle her larger gift very well. It is a classic story of the gift process working at its best!

We do not need to look far back into world history to find horrifying examples where trust between diverse people has been intentionally destroyed by systemic actions or else damaged by unjust decisions and the prejudiced opinions of a powerful few. Have you ever wondered whether individuals who perpetrate events that destroy trust have any conscious realization of the true damage their actions cause?  Those actions go against the very nature of philanthropy and the collective efforts of our profession to respect and celebrate diversity.

We must clearly understand, as fundraising professionals, that far too many people do not participate in mainstream philanthropic efforts because they simply do not trust us!  This absence of trust causes many missed opportunities to advance the true meaning of philanthropy. I call your attention to the article in this issue of Kaleidoscope that was written by my colleagues on the diversity committee that describes AFP’s diversity programs. There are many opportunities to learn and get involved, at the association, chapter and individual level.

Success in philanthropy depends upon our profession establishing trust among a wide array of donors, inviting more diverse individuals to join our profession and appreciating the experiences, opinions, culture and perspectives of the people we serve. This must be an ongoing effort, and the best way to start is simply to listen—listen deeply to hear the messages of people we may have ignored in the past.

Building (and rebuilding) trust is no quick and easy process, for we cannot erase the injustices of the past that destroyed trust. We can only resolve to acknowledge and overcome. Then, as trust expands among people we all will benefit from the results. Keep in mind the lesson from Aesop’s tale of the hare and the tortoise: “Slow and steady wins the race!”