Published: Aug. 24, 2024
Dear Friends:
For several years, I have done my best to avoid publishing other organizations’ straight-up pitches for donations in this email newsletter. Western Friend sells advertisements to Quaker nonprofits, which we publish in our magazine, and as a matter of fairness, I’ve tried not to give away free advertising elsewhere. Instead, I have asked would-be fundraisers to rewrite their "pitches" into the form of “news items” about their good work, rather than publishing bare requests for financial support.
However, a few weeks ago, I did publish a plain fundraising request from “the mothership” meetinghouse of Pacific Yearly Meeting (San Jose Friends Meeting), which was to support their initiative to make their building wheelchair accessible. That request was framed as “news,” but really, it was a fundraiser.
That slip of mine did seem to open the gates. Over the past few weeks, I have received several newsletter submissions that are, at their core, requests for donations for various good causes.
Rather than continue with my previous practice of working to have such fundraising items reframed as news items – and rather than choosing the fair option of just saying, “No, I can’t publish this.” – my new plan going forward will be: I will include the words “Donation Request” in the headline of any “news” item that is, at its heart, a fundraising request.
Going forward, you’ll be able to see all such items listed in our newsletter archive under the heading “Donation Request.” Click here to see this new “news” category in action.
Thanks for your attention to this concern.
Mary