Letter to the Editor
ASPRS Building Fund Drive – Share the Burden
This letter was written to Building Fund Drive 2000 Chairman Roger Crystal. The author agreed to let us share it with PE&RS readers.
Click HERE for a pdf version (118kb)
Roger,
I received your invitation to contribute once again to the building fund and I am glad to do so, again. But I have a comment. The enclosed flier stated, “It is conservatively estimated that if every member would contribute $25 - $100, based on their ability to give, we would easily be able to complete the goal.”
My hunch is that over the 12-year period that the fund drive has been in existence, based on the one-third rule, roughly 1/3 of the membership has contributed to the building fund. In the ballpark? If that conjecture is somewhat accurate, I suspect that roughly the same one third of the membership will contribute during the Campaign 2000 Building Fund Drive. The same one third.
You know, I don’t think it’s a sin to be frank with people. Every member of this Society has certain responsibilities, and one of them is to come to the aid of the Society in time of need. Would it have been so horrible to have said something like: “Over the past 12 years, roughly 60% of the membership of the Society have not contributed to the building fund, and you know who you are. I’m speaking to you in particular. All of you receive benefits from membership in this Society. Your Society is in need of you at this time. We need your financial support to pay in full the mortgage on our headquarters building. I would like to hear from everyone of you with a contribution of at least $25 or a reason why you couldn’t fulfill this responsibility. But in either case, I want to hear from you. You have until July 31st to respond.”
“Accountability” is a word that seems to have less and less meaning in America today. But in a professional society like ours, it should stand for something.
That’s my two cents worth. I’ll get my Campaign 2000 contribution in the mail tomorrow.
David Geo. Clark
IEC GI Training IPT
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Yes, I want to help retire the ASPRS Building Fund. METHOD OF PAYMENT: CHECK__ VISA__ MasterCard__ AMEX__ Make checks payable to “ASPRS Building Fund.” All checks must be in US dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. Name:_______________________________ Membership ID #______________________ Signature: _______________________________________________________________ Complete this form and mail with check or credit card information
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