An Interview With Dani Brzozowski, director of development, Open Books

FS: What are the biggest challenges your organization faces as far as fundraising is concerned? How do you overcome them?
DB: One of the big challenges we face is transitioning our corps of young volunteers to a corps of young donors. Because the average age of our volunteers is very young (early to mid-20s), we don’t have a constituency that’s necessarily prepared to bring a lot of accumulated wealth to the fundraising table. But they are hugely committed to the fight against illiteracy; they’re dedicated to Open Books and the programs we offer. I don’t see the challenge as convincing our volunteers to be financially supportive so much as showing them the value of their gifts. It’s part of the struggle many organizations have when trying to engage young donors: So many young people are reluctant to give because they perceive their dollar contributions as petty. The challenge is to show them that their dollars are incredibly worthwhile.