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October 06, 2008

Economy Woes Cause Concerns About New York Galas

As the season for fund-raising galas in New York opens, many nonprofit groups are worried about how the economy’s downturn will affect their efforts, notes The New York Times in an article examining what goes on behind the scenes at a fund-raising event.

“I think it’s going to be overall disastrous for charities, with no end in sight,” Sanford J. Schlesinger, a New York trust and estates lawyer who has clients who are putting off making big gifts, told the newspaper. Seedco, a charity that aids low-income workers, has canceled its benefit planned for this week because of the economy, the newspaper says.

Even so, the charity featured in the article — the New York Women’s Foundation — held its first gala event last week but managed to raise $675,000.

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Monday October 6, 2008 | Permalink

Comments

1. Correction: They did not “manage to raise $675,000”, they managed to GROSS that amount. Once expenses are substracted, what they actually NETTED is anybody’s guess, unless it appears on their 990.

   I read the NYT Styles section every week, and it has long bothered me that the people putting on these expensive six and seven figure society affairs are not held accountable for their performance as fundraisers. It is quite possible to NET less than six figures on these events, which hardly represents much of a charitable impact given the amount of work that goes into them. Call these events what they are: social events with a small public benefit. They do not have a major philanthropic impact.

   — Nonprofit Professor    Oct 6, 04:49 PM    #

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