Charitable thoughts ...

It's a rainy school holiday monday for me, and I am procrastinating about my housework by going over my options. It occurs to me that my SLife is quite a charmed existence. People come to me with terrific ideas, and I get to toss them around and try to make something of them. It's not constant, but it's steady (and thank god, because I have a little trouble with saying 'no'"). As one project draws to a close, there is usually another forming up.

We just finished a fundraiser. I'm not big on fundraisers, they make me a little resentful. Part of travelling light is turning one's head away from things that cause distress. If I start to consider lending my support to one cause, I have to think about all of them, and then it seems there is not one cause that deserves support more than another. I believe I am like most people this way. I can't support them all, so I stick to donating to the ones that capture my fancy on an ad hoc basis.

As I write this, I am aware of how shallow it sounds ... but I still believe most people feel the same way. There's a reason musicians are constantly getting hit to perform for a fundraiser. It's no joke, the musicians I have worked with are hit on daily to give time to this or that cause, and often very aggressively. I understand why - fundraisers need to find that element that makes their event the one that captures the public's fancy. And I totally understand why the performers feel beseiged - which do you say "no" to, how do you gauge worth when it comes to misfortune?

When it came to me being asked to lend my support to a cause, I said yes, of course - I always say yes. So then my task becomes "how do I make my event the one that captures the public's fancy?" I am pleased to say, the choices we went with were successful. We did not raise a lot of money, but I wasn't really expecting we would. We did put on a great event that brought first and second life together in a way that was mutually satisfying, and by doing that, we raised awareness. I have many thoughts on what we could have done differently, but also on what worked really well.

surveying options

Ultimately, I feel honoured to have been asked to be part of it, and proud of what we were able to do. I imagine that is the feeling serial fundraisers get, and, at least for some, the thing that keeps them motivated to do it over and over again. Me? I'm still not big on fundraisers ... and I'll still be supporting the ones that somehow capture my fancy.