How a $5 Bill Changed Me...

Q: What would you say has been the most important experience or accomplishment you’ve had as a professional fundraiser?

Out of all of the opportunities I have had to raise significant funds for a cause I cared about, it isn’t the $1 million+ galas or multi-million dollar grants or transformational gifts from major donors that have meant the most to me. It was a $5 bill and some change.

During Hurricane Harvey, I sat trapped in my parents’ dining room for 36 hours praying our power would hold and that the water slowly rising over the floorboards would not reach the wall plugs where I charged my laptop. I had eagerly stepped in as the first Executive Director for a small, previously all-volunteer led, fundraising and grant-making nonprofit in May of 2017 and was in the process of steering the organization through its first ever strategic planning. That night in August, I was looking forward to the annual gala in September as the grand unveiling of our master plan to help alleviate suffering and end the homelessness of companion animals in Houston.

On August 25, 2017, as it quickly became clear this storm would be one for the record books though, I furiously set about to set up an online donation portal to raise funds not for the gala but for the hundreds of thousands of animals I knew would be caught up in its wake. This included creating, from the ground up, an online grant request submission portal for the many animal welfare-related groups the organization supported. I knew we had to be able to raise funds quickly and get them in the hands of those operating on the front lines even quicker, without sacrificing our due diligence and responsibility to our donors.

While the story of our collective work through Hurricane Harvey is much longer, I am proud to share thanks to our quick efforts and foresight we raised over $300,000 in 30 days. Thanks to some strategic, targeted advertising on social media, donations poured in from across the globe as far as Australia. But the most powerful donation we received was a crumpled $5 bill and some change mailed in an envelope from a sweet child in New York with a note that they wanted to:

"...help the dogs that were drowning."

In that moment, more than any other, I felt what a privilege and an honor it is to be able to offer caring and compassionate donors an outlet for their love, for their grief, and for their hope. We aren’t always given the opportunity to make a difference in a hands-on capacity for the causes we care about and offering people the chance to donate gives them a chance for their voices to be heard and for their love to matter.

That child mailed us a piece of his heart that day and I will never forget it.

Watch a video of our early efforts, including a stunning shot of me with no-makeup, here: https://youtu.be/EjcScsYCfWw