A friend of  mine, a charity CEO,  called me after she read my last post Be A Donor-Doer. “Have you totally lost it” she asked? “The last thing I want is big donors nosing  into the tent and telling me how to run things. They may mean well but they carry a big stick.”

It is true that not every donor knows or observe boundaries. A person who has been eminently successful in business and who’s accustomed to running things is  not always a person who can or will pull back. Major benefactors  invest both their egos and their money in their  philanthropy.

FFM/C’s role is to bring both the donor and the grantee to a good space; to assure each that the common goal is to enhance the charity’s work and the donor’s sense of accomplishment.

Haven’t lost it yet – but I’ll be very happy to see the back of winter!