Money for the Cause: A Complete Guide to Event Fundraising

Acknowledgments

acknowledgments a Third oF This book was written almost ten years before the last two-thirds, giving me plenty of time to accumulate people to acknowledge. time also blurs details of events—fundraising and otherwise . thus it is no accident i now thank steve Comus and travis Cundiff. they were present at many of the events serving as stories in the book and made sure i had my facts straight. i apologize for any slight nuances between my memory and what others may recall. steve also reviewed the text and that is particularly meaningful because he has probably written and published more about high-dollar fundraising events than anyone else in history. i also thank alan Wentz, a mentor and thorough reviewer of this book who has spent more years observing fundraising events than i ever will. Many others have mentored or helped me along the way in fundraising , including andy sansom, who so graciously wrote the foreword to this book, Larry schweiger, Charlie shaw, John Jensen, peter hunter, pat Johnson , and rebecca o’Connor. special thanks go to Charles Leigon, a dear friend and colleague whose patient encouragement to write helped renew my interest in finishing this book. i also am grateful for the partnership with shannon davies, Louise Lindsey Merrick editor for the natural environment of the texas a&M University press. Considerable work goes into birthing a book. shannon’s friendship, help, and encouragement made the work go smoothly. special thanks go to Katie Cundiff, a phenomenally talented artist whose work has made this book a visual feast of fundraising art. But even more significant , many of the works displayed on the pages that follow have been used to raise funds by many organizations serving many causes. Finally i thank my “in-house” reviewers. My wife, Jackie, dutifully read every word, several times, and helped edit. she also provided substantive content in areas of event arrangements, such as food service, site selection, accommodations, and negotiations which are her areas of expertise. My “lucky” daughter Julie, now an attorney doing some nonprofit practice , helped review and contributed to sections of the book covering legal matters. Julie is a dedicated advocate of greening fundraising events, and along with my other daughters, Laura and shelly, regularly volunteers to help raise funds for worthy causes. Money for the Cause ...