Lessons From the Pentagon Memorial

September 11, 2008

Lessons From the Pentagon Memorial

Today marks the dedication of the Pentagon Memorial — the first of the memorial projects to be completed after the 2001 attacks.

In the seven years since the attacks, fund raisers for memorials at all three sites that were struck by the terrorist airplane disaster have been greeted with several setbacks.

But the Pentagon Memorial was able to move forward with a defined plan and a straightforward fund-raising approach.

“We were lucky in that it was very well defined from the beginning,” said James J. Laychak, the chairman of the Pentagon Memorial Foundation, in a 2006 Chronicle interview. “It allowed us to make some clear decisions. It allowed us to focus on what we need to do. We could go forward with the traditional fund-raising efforts.

But before that could happen, Mr. Laychak, who lost a brother in the attack on the Pentagon and works as a business consultant, had to learn how to approach donors.

“He learned that if he wanted big donors to give big sums, he had to ‘make the ask’ without fear of rejection,” writes the Washington Post.

While that seems simple, it is a lesson worth repeating for fund raisers, writes Marc. A Pitman, a fund-raising consultant, on The Fundraising Coach.

“If you’re involved in fund raising in any capacity, don’t let anyone ever tell you that all you’re doing is ‘begging’ or ‘hitting people up,” Mr. Pitman writes. “You’re actively helping people remember, hope, and heal.”

— Peter Panepento

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