Who Gave $5, Who Gave $100,000, We Couldn't Tell
When I was the Capital Campaign Director at Street Roots we had reached a significant milestone regarding their new building and wanted to mark it with a groundbreaking ceremony.
The typical groundbreaking already has its script. Things like hardhats, shovels, a ribbon and scissors, and a few remarks from the right people in the right order.
We were not doing that.
Instead we had a processional. We took forty to fifty donors and community members and rolled a piano down the street together.
Philanthropists. People experiencing houselessness. Board members. Neighbors.
You could not tell who had given substantial resources and who had not. The usual signals that sort people into categories before they even speak were gone.
It was equalized across the board. And that is what made it unforgettable.
The feedback across the board was positive.
Most donor gatherings are designed around certainty. The right people say the right things in the right order. Wealth sits at the head.
That certainty is not neutral. It is a choice. And it quietly tells everyone in the room where they stand.
What happened when we rolled that piano down the street is that the choice got made differently.
Nobody knew who to defer to. Nobody knew who to impress. The usual masculine energy that organizes these rooms, the hierarchy, the performance, the script, had nowhere to land.
What filled that space instead was something rarer. People just being people together in a more balanced way.
~Cody