From the Development Director

Greetings, Friends!

In early September I joined the staff of Baltimore Meeting as its first fundraiser. The past five months have been incredibly rewarding as I’ve worked with the Development Subcommittee of the Stewardship and Finance Committee to create and roll out a full-fledged fundraising program.

We’re starting with the fundamentals: encouraging Friends to make gifts to BYM on a consistent annual basis. A number of Friends already make direct, voluntary gifts to their Yearly Meeting, recognizing it as a part of their extended faith community. If more of the 3,000+ households within Baltimore Yearly Meeting supported BYM to the best of their ability, we’d ensure a solid financial foundation for our programs and activities, buffer our Yearly Meeting against erratic economic tides, and have the capacity to consider new ways of supporting Quakers in our region.

With the help of our webmanager Jim Rose, we’ve also created a prototype Development page on the BYM website, which includes a new document, Questions and Answers about Giving to BYM. To read it, click on the “Learn about Giving to BYM” link on the homepage, or point your browser to: www.bym-rsf.org/Giving/.

Although my primary responsibility is to raise funds for our Yearly Meeting, my job includes assisting Monthly Meetings to use best practices in meeting their own funding needs to the greatest extent possible. As this issue of the Interchange goes to press, I’m scheduled to speak at several Monthly Meetings within BYM on the topic of "Quakers and Philanthropy." Invariably when the topic comes up, someone says, “Friends don’t like to talk about money.” That’s a real conversation stopper! My intent is to re-open the conversation, inviting Friends to have a frank dialogue about money, generosity, and the ways in which traditional fundraising practices do and do not apply to Quaker culture. If you’d like me to visit your Meeting, please call or email me in the BYM office – I’d enjoy talking with you!

Best wishes,
Robinne