Pulse: ProFile: Ginny Creveling

Fundraising, at its best, is relationship building. The goal isn't just to get one-time gifts from faceless names. Though every dollar does help, the real goal is to establish long-lasting relationships with donors to cultivate an environment of giving that lasts a lifetime.

That's exactly the approach veteran fundraiser Ginny Creveling applies to her efforts. Recently named president and chief operating officer of the Folds of Honor Foundation, a nonprofit missioned to empower military families with educational support and opportunities, Creveling stresses that fundraisers should build two-way relationships with donors and lay out the benefits for both parties.

"I think relationship-raising is fundraising at its best," she says. "You can raise money, you can go and just ask people … but relationship building is different.

"[In] relationship building — [donors] care about you, and they care about your cause. And they want to be part of it, and they want to help. Relationship building on the practical side is also about knowing that your nonprofit, being associated with your nonprofit, is a plus for them. That's what comes out of relationship building."

Born in Manila, Philippines, Creveling was a military baby, moving from place to place. Her father served in the U.S. Army during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, so she certainly can relate to the mission at hand for Folds of Honor — which is why she left her job as executive director of the ONEOK Foundation, the charitable arm of ONEOK Inc., a Fortune 500 diversified energy company. There, Creveling managed a charitable budget that awarded more than $10 million in grants annually.

FundRaising Success spoke with Creveling about fundraising, relationship building and her passion for helping others.

FundRaising Success: How were you introduced to fundraising? What sparked your interest?

Ginny Creveling: As a volunteer. I'm lucky; I've been involved in some great causes that I've really believed in. And when you do believe and you see the need, I think you very willingly help raise the funding that's needed in order to meet those needs.

My very first volunteer job was when my little ones were in school, and I just presented myself at what was then the Children's Medical Center [in Tulsa, Okla.]. I just walked up and asked if there was anything I could do to help. Two afternoons a week, I would go for a couple of hours and just play with the kids who were residential patients there. It was great for me. But they had a fundraiser, a golf tournament as a matter of fact, and they needed volunteers to help with that. We were raising money for the children's playroom at the time. It just led naturally, and that was my very first experience actually in fundraising.

The way my mind works and the values that I have for people, it lends itself pretty naturally for me to do fundraising. I really have a value for people, a respect for people. So when you're fundraising, sometimes even with the bigger dollars, if it's a no, I don't not like those people, because I have an understanding that everyone has their own needs. Although what we may be presenting them we think is the most important thing in the world, it's just not a good fit — at least not at the time.

I start from the basis of a respect for other people's thinking. It's OK for me to fundraise because it's OK for me for someone to decline. It's also OK for me, of course, when they accept, because then I feel like we were able to give that person something they needed also.

FS: How did your experience at ONEOK Foundation influence your fundraising philosophy?

GC: The lucky thing for me, after a time, was that I got to be on both sides of fundraising, both as a funder and as a beneficiary. As a funder, I know about the corporate needs that we had at ONEOK, our return on investment that was needed. If I can convey that to the people asking for money, and then if they can convey to us their needs, and if through that discussion we can find a win-win, that's the best kind of arrangement.

When nonprofits would present to ONEOK, I would say, "We are not a yes-no organization." We didn't usually look at a request and say yes or no. We want to talk, we want to get to know you and we want you to get to know us. Through that, we want to care about you, and we'd like you to care about us. In that discussion, we'd like to find the place where we can have the most effective partnership. And it may not be at this request that you're presenting today. But I think at the end of the day, we will have not only hopefully been able to help you with your funding needs, but we'll have a relationship so we can be there for each other.

FS: What are the challenges in today's environment in raising funds? How do you plan to overcome those challenges?

GC: I think the challenges are the same as they've always been. The degree of the challenges is dramatically different because of the economy. But the challenge has always been that nonprofits need to understand that they really have to practice the behaviors of for-profits. Because philanthropy is a business. If you don't treat your organization as a for-profit does, which is to be fiscally responsible and accountable and understand, for us, that it's the donor's need for a return on the investment — that's the biggest challenge.

When we go to a funder to ask for money, we need to do our due diligence, which means we ought to know who that funder is and what their needs are. What is it that we have that can appeal to that need, to conserve their need? We have to do due diligence and out of that find a win-win, so that we can stand out among those many other requests that they receive.

FS: What do you like most about fundraising?

GC: What I like best about working in the nonprofit sector is, hands down, the people. Everywhere you can see, people know that at the end of the day, what they did that day shined light on somebody's life.

It's really an honor, a fortune to be working in the nonprofit sector for me, because everywhere there is inspiration to be a better person. The people that you are hoping to benefit are so admirable. These people often have so much less yet they show so much more courage than so many of us. Some of the things that I would normally complain about, I see it with a different perspective. FS

Joe Boland is copy editor and staff writer for the Target Marketing Group at FS’ parent company, NAPCO. Reach him at jboland@napco.com