THE NAYDO STORY

“Acres of Gold”

A former YMCA director by the name of John MacBean was getting considerable attention in large YMCAs for his presentation called “Acres of Gold” in which he described a comprehensive fund raising program that included utilizing charitable trusts and other deferred giving instruments largely untouched by the YMCA.  John had been instrumental as a member of the Detroit YMCA staff in securing a very large trust designated for that YMCA and other philanthropic interests of the donor.  It was partly as a result of his urging that several Ys created development offices.
 

A Precursor
National Repositioning Program

Bob Harlan, YMCA USA CEO, tried to launch a program to raise the sights of local YMCAs in their annual fund raising capabilities.  The program was titled “Repositioning”.  As part of the strategy a major conference was held at Blue Ridge Assembly.  Most YMCAs were still focused on the annual membership campaign and an occasional short  term capital campaign.  The principal focus of repositioning seemed to be on charitable giving, developing the big gift and promoting endowment development.  In my opinion Harlan made one error in his strategy.   He started with foot soldiers rather than the major YMCA players; the Urban Group executives.  That group was staffed by Solon Cousins. Launching such an ambitious enterprise without first convincing the leaders of the large metropolitan associations of its worth caused the effort to fade along with Bob Harlan’s tenure as YMCA USA CEO.

A Shift in Focus

Changes occurred in the YMCA movement: AOS (Association of  Secretaries) which had focused the content of its conferences on job skill training, morphised to APD and later AYP which emphasized the status of the staff member in the work place. The national field staff personnel shifted their focus from fostering subgroups with specialized functions such as membership directors, youth workers, etc..  Geographic clusters, staffed by larger YMCA personnel, assumed the consultant function.

Training in Development was available outside the auspices of the YMCA: Conrad Teitel was an excellent source for the details of the instruments of deferred giving; Robert Sharpe concentrated on various types of insurance as prime sources for making charitable gifts; and, probably the best of all for getting a firm foundation in all aspects of establishing a sound development program was and is The Fund Raising School started and led by Hank Rosso.  There were others.  What seemed to be missing, however, was fund raising that capitalized on the distinct culture of the local YMCA.

The First NAYDO Council

Many of us in the Y felt the need to explore the unique features the YMCA possessed, among them, community based operations with lay boards and a network of volunteers.  We sought to maximize learning from external sources by meeting with other YMCA staff and cross sharing our successes and frustrations in applying those approaches to resource development practices in other institutions.  We shared our disappointment with Moss Causey of the YMCA USA staff.  As a result, Moss gathered a group together of those whom he knew identified themselves as YMCA  development officers.  It was at that Denver meeting that the NAYDO Council was organized naming Paul Netzel of Los Angeles as President and Dick Stoll of St. Louis as Vice President.  The first Council, in addition to Netzel and Stoll consisted of George Rodger, Toronto, Don Anderson, Seattle, Phil Brain, Minneapolis, Ben Casey, New Orleans, Nevin Gehman, New York, Hugh Hurst, Nashville, Ken Isherwood, Detroit, Norris Lineweaver, Houston, Matt Ottaviano, Chicago, Clark Thompson, Washington, D.C., and Ken Turpin, Boston.  Dick Stoll was charged with the task of convening a planning committee with the goal of holding a YMCA fundraising conference in St. Louis the following year.  It was a humble beginning but was enthusiastically received by the 34 who participated. 

Truth be told, many of us were dismayed that the Cousins administration failed to capitalize on the impetus started by the Harlan Administration in stressing comprehensive fundraising as applied to the YMCA.  We saw no organized effort within the YMCA to establish a broad training program in our movement relevant to financing worthwhile local programs unable to carry their own weight financially.  So…we decided to do it ourselves!

Adaptations were added in subsequent years.  The Council recognized that some of the better fundraising programs existed in medium and smaller Associations so recognizing outstanding achievement by staff in those venues was added.  The Council also recognized that there was much to be learned from our counterparts to the North.  The addition of the Canadians enriched us!  Since many of us attended NSFRE locally and nationally, the Council concluded we would benefit by piggybacking on their conferences and utilizing their talents as presenters in NAYDO.
 

NAYDO COUNCIL CHAIRS

 1. Paul Netzel ..................... 1981–1983
 2. Dick Stoll ....................... 1984–1985
 3. Ben Casey ...................... 1986–1987
 4. Marcus Young ................ 1988–1989
 5. Steve Burns ................... 1990–1991
 6. Ken Isherwood ............... 1992–1993
 7. Carol Schmidt ................. 1994–1995
 8. Bill Botts ........................ 1996–1997
 9. Bill Davis ........................ 1998–1999
10. Wylie Stafford ................ 2000
11. Journey Johnson............. 2000-2001
12. Robyn Furness-Fallin...... 2001-2002

13. Merv Bennett ................... 2003-2005
14. Robb Hermanson ............. 2005-2007
15. Gail Glasser ....................  2007-2009
16. Tony Penn ......................  2009
17. Gail Glasser (Interim) ......  2010
18. Bryan Webber ................   2010-2012
19. Curt Hazelbaker ..............  2012-2015
20. Andy Pierce ....................  2015-2018
21. Shelly McTighe-Rippengale  2018-2021
22. Zane Korytko...................  2021-2023
23. Carolyn Grady................... 2023-

About the Author

Dick Stoll joined the St. Louis Association in 1971 as Vice President for Development, a position he occupied until his retirement in 1991.  

NOTE: Before his passing, Dick Stoll was a member of the Kirkland YMCA and served as an advisor to the YMCA of Greater St. Louis. In 2008 the Dick Stoll Spirit of Philanthropy Award was created to recognize annually a YMCA employee whose work furthered the spirit of philanthropy in the YMCA of Greater St. Louis.