Q: One of your books is titled “Filthy Rich: How to Turn Your Nonprofit Fantasies into Cold, Hard Cash.” Did you do that, and, if so, how?
A: The kickstart for me was the Children’s Museum in Denver, where I was the executive director from 1976 to 1984. The museum was falling apart, and it was six weeks away from going out of business. We applied a simple principle: Instead of asking people for a donation, we offered them an even exchange.
One of the best examples was converting a money-losing newsletter (through advertising sales) into a highly successful, money-making, newspaper named Boing. We, at one, point had a 2 million circulation.
What we needed to do as a nonprofit was to think about building in a profit that would facilitate our missions, which in those years was heresy. We were basically inventing how to be a social entrepreneur. We wound up earning 95 percent of our budget.
We always priced the product or service with a margin, with a profit. Nonprofits were giving things away, and we said, “Why?”
Last year, $1 billion was exchanged between for profits and nonprofits. That means in a business-driven relationship, nonprofits grossed $1 billion. It’s really become a force for nonprofits.
Q: How do events like hurricanes Katrina and Rita affect nonprofit fundraising?
A: It has the same impact that 9/11 had. It gives you a spike in fundraising. People pour their hearts out. But then it’s back to business as usual after a couple months.
It’s like a vacuum cleaner. It vacuums this money into a vortex for this tragedy, and it vacuums money away from things people may have supported in the past. But it doesn’t seem to have a long-term impact.
After 9/11, things returned to the previous level of giving. I always joke that if you are competing with the Children’s Hospital, you lose because you can never come up with the emotional pictures. And nothing can compare to the emotional drama of (major tragedies).
Q: Your latest book, “The Milestone Project,” moves beyond nonprofits to focus on raising what you call “good-hearted people.” It’s also a photo exhibit at Denver International Airport and will travel to other airports. What did you hope to accomplish?
A: The book and exhibit is photographs of milestone moments in children’s lives. One page is children getting a haircut, or losing their first tooth or their first day of school. You can never hate someone who has the same life experiences.
We wanted people to think about, talk about and take personal action about the inclusion and acceptance of others. We picked airports because of the vast number of people who travel through there everyday.
We created a partnership with the Littleton School District. What we are hoping is that we can harvest the creativity of teachers to introduce their own programs and class projects that promote those values.
We are asking people to join what is becoming a worldwide social movement.
Q: The project also features childhood recollections by several notable authors, including J.K. Rowling and Sandra Boynton. Which story is your favorite?
A: My diplomatic answer is I like all of them equally. I like different ones for different reasons, so it’s hard to rank them. J.K. Rowling writes well. I think she has a future as a writer (laughs). She chose one of the universal ones: getting glasses.
What fascinates me is that a 13-year-old girl from the U.S. wrote about the same experience, and it looks like they wrote them together. At first they thought the glasses were cool, and then the next day people called them four-eyes. They were devastated. It shows the universality of those experiences.
Q: For the project, you traveled with your wife, Michele, to 23 countries on every continent. What was the hardest part?
A: Any of the personal discomforts or dangers, or the potential of malaria or other diseases, none of those really mattered.
Q: Who is your hero and why?
A: I have many people I have enormous respect for, people like Muhammad Ali who paid a price for adhering to his principles, but I don’t think I have heroes. I have mentors, but I don’t want to live their lives. I want to learn from their lives, but I want to live my life.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by staff writer Will Shanley.
