Here's a typical
interaction with a marine conservation organization.
I have a great
company that has sponsored my work for many years now. They
agreed to donate $500 to a marine environmental organization that I
suggest. I contact this organization, S* (not the real name), since
I have heard from friends and colleagues that they are doing good
work. Stopping the shark finning
trade is one of the few marine
conservation issues that can actually be accomplished
within our lifetimes. I also ask: “My hope is that you already
have a process in place to recognize and
publicize contributions to your organization.”
The director is
pleased to hear from me, and he states:
“Hello,
Norb. Thank you very much for this. It's very much appreciated and
will be put to good use. We do have a page on our website where we
can put a mention and a description of you and P* (not the real name). “
He
also states:
“As I mentioned to
Norbert, we'll be adding an acknowledgement to our supporters page on
our website for this gift. Also, please expect a more official 'thank
you' in the mail, shortly.”
In the end, however,
NONE of what S* promised ever happened. They took my sponsor's $500
donation, but said essentially "sorry,
but no mention for you since
your donation is such a pittance." No one ever
received a “thank you” in the mail either. As far as I know, no mention of my sponsor's donation was ever made -- as was originally promised.
Here's what the
director of S* wrote -- after initially stating that they have a website page for mentions!:
“We haven't before
acknowledged donations publicly on our website, but we do so for
large corporate sponsorships, currently in the several thousands of
dollars or more, and for foundation grants. Corporate
sponsorships are not pure donations in that for a large sum of
donation, they usually do expect something back in return in the form
of recognition. The level of that benefit is negotiated. What you
have seen on our sponsorship page is one way that we have agreed to
acknowledge these large sponsorships. “
My sponsor
graciously accepted all the above with no rancor. But this situation
has bothered me enough that today, three years later, I have decided
to post it with all names anonymous.
So,
as I've found often happens with marine conservation organizations –
they are happy to accept donations, but then they renege on their
promises.
Here are the email communications. S* is the marine conservation organization. P* is my sponsor. P* donated $500 to S* at my behest.
On Wednesday, May
23, 2012 at 10:50 AM, Norbert Wu Productions Office wrote:
Dear S*:
I am a friend of
D...., who suggested that I contact you. He
says good things
about you!
I am an underwater
photographer. One of my sponsors is the company
P* (not the real
name).
I am donating the
use of my images and testimonials about P*'s products
for their PR
efforts, and in exchange, P* has agreed to contribute the
amount of $500 to S* or
other worthy nonprofit organization.
I suggested S* since
I know you guys are doing good work, and
because I know some
of the folks involved. Stopping the shark finning
trade is one of the
few marine conservation issues that can actually be
accomplished within
our lifetimes.
I'd like to ask if
S* would be willing and able to issue a
press release and
other PR material that publicizes this contribution
and the names of the
contributors, who would be P*,
Inc. and myself. My
hope is that you already have a process in place to
recognize and
publicize contributions to your organization.
Thanks and I look
forward to your reply.
--
Best,
Norb
------------------------------
Norbert Wu
Productions
Pacific Grove, CA
93950
USA
From:S*
director
Date: Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:03 AM
Subject: Re: contribution to Shark Savers
To:
Cc: D..
Date: Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:03 AM
Subject: Re: contribution to Shark Savers
To:
Cc: D..
Hello, Norb. Thank
you very much for this. It's very much appreciated and will be put to
good use. We do have a page on our website where we can put a mention
and a description of you and PSI. It would be difficult to create a
press release for this, but I think the public acknowledgement that
we can create will be appropriate.
Thank you again for
causing this donation.
Executive Director,
S*
From: Executive
Director, S*
Date: Fri, May 25, 2012 at 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: Lowepro profile of Norb Wu
To: ...
Date: Fri, May 25, 2012 at 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: Lowepro profile of Norb Wu
To: ...
Thank you, very
much, David and Norbert. This donation is greatly appreciated. As I
mentioned to Norbert, we'll be adding an acknowledgement to our
supporters page on our website for this gift. Also, please expect a
more official 'thank you' in the mail, shortly.
With best regards,
Executive Director,
S*
On Thursday, May 31,
2012 at 5:55 PM, P* wrote:
Hi, Executive
Director, S*,
The link below will
get you to the logo artwork
for use with the
Norbert photo/text or however you wish to present it.
Here is a short
blurb for you if
appropriate .....
P* provides
exceptionally high-purity cleaning
products
for cleaning digital
camera sensors, lenses, filters and more. The
only products
for sensor cleaning
recommended by camera manufacturers and trusted world-
wide by real pros,
like Norbert Wu.
P*
On 5/31/12 3:41 PM,
S* wrote:
Thanks. I hope you
all understand that I'm going to need to find a way
to present this in a
way that is fair to our major sponsors. That
existing page only
has sponsors in the $5,000 to $100,000 range, with
almost all of them
above $25,000, So, I don't want to get anybody's
expectations raised.
I will, however, try to do justice to your support.
We really do
appreciate it.
Thanks for
understanding.
Executive Director,
S*
On Friday, June 1,
2012 at 10:54 AM, Norbert Wu Productions Office wrote:
Dear Executive
Director, S*:
Can you please
explain what is going on here?
First you state:
Thank you, very
much, P* and Norbert. This donation is greatly
appreciated. As I
mentioned to Norbert, we'll be adding an
acknowledgement to
our supporters page on our website for this gift.
Also, please expect
a more official 'thank you' in the mail,
shortly.
Now, out of the
blue, you are saying:
> Thanks. I hope
you all understand that I'm going to need to find a way
> to present this
in a way that is fair to our major sponsors. That
> existing page
only has sponsors in the $5,000 to $100,000 range, with
> almost all of
them above $25,000, So, I don't want to get anybody's
> expectations
raised. I will, however, try to do justice to your support.
>
I'd appreciate
clarification. Are you saying that you can no longer put
P*'s name on your
website as a donor, contrary to your original
statement?
All I see is that P*
has sent you a logo and a possible blurb for you
to use, and that you
are now saying, "sorry, but no mention for you
since your donation
is such a pittance."
If that's the case,
then my feeling is that you should refund P*
donation
immediately, and I'll work with them to find an organization
that might find the
funds more useful.
I hope that I am
misinterpreting the emails here. Perhaps you could
provide a link to
your "supporters" page as I do not see it on your
website.
Sincerely,
Norb
------------------------------
Norbert Wu
Productions
Pacific Grove, CA
93950
USA
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:S*
Date: Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 2:24 PM
Subject: Re: P* LOGOS and web changes
To: …
Hello, everyone. I
know that Friday afternoons are not the best time for email
discussions. As you have both corresponded with me separately, I
thought I would send this email to both of you in order to make sure
we are all having the same conversation.
Here is what I sent
to Norbert in response to his email earlier today:
First of all, I want
to repeat that we do sincerely appreciate this donation--we are
equally appreciative of a donation at any level. We recognize that
some donations of $25 represent a bigger sacrifice to someone than a
$25,000 donation might be to another person.
This
misunderstanding concerns how we acknowledge donations and which ones
we publicly acknowledge. Basic donations are considered a gift
to us to support our programs. The only tangible benefit to a donor
for most donations is the tax write off (in the US). We are required
by law to send a letter of acknowledgement acting as a receipt for
donations over $250, but we choose to send either letters or emails
for all donations, even if they are just $1 because they do mean so
much to us.
We haven't before
acknowledged donations publicly on our website, but we do so for
large corporate sponsorships, currently in the several thousands of
dollars or more, and for foundation grants. Corporate
sponsorships are not pure donations in that for a large sum of
donation, they usually do expect something back in return in the form
of recognition. The level of that benefit is negotiated. What you
have seen on our sponsorship page is one way that we have agreed to
acknowledge these large sponsorships.
When I agreed to
publicly acknowledge your and P* gift, I only readily agreed to do
that because you asked for it and I sensed in your email that you had
already said something about that to P*. I planned to find a new way
to do that short of what we do for major sponsorships. In fact,
what I thought of doing was to begin to provide a list of names for
donors who wanted to be listed.
It was only when I
received a logo and an ad-like blurb for P*, something that I had not
intended to provide, that I realized there was a misunderstanding
that needed further explanation. In retrospect, I recognize that
this misunderstanding arose because I didn't explain all of this when
you sent your first email. I wish I had. While I hadn't promised a
sponsorship-level recognition, I also didn't specify what we could
actually do. Because of this, I will redesign the page so as to
accommodate your request. I'll be delineating donors from high to
lower in some fashion, and the degree of recognition will be more
pronounced for the larger donors. We will include the P* logo within
this new tier with a link back to their site. I can do the same for
you.
Will this be
satisfactory?
After receiving the
above, Norbert has suggested that it may be better to return the P*
donation. I do not feel that I have misrepresented anything to you,
and am trying to accommodate you--and that includes willingness
to return the donation if that is what you wish, P*. Alternatively,
I can have the page modified with your acknowledgement sometime next
week. The acknowledgement will be smaller than and will follow the
major sponsors, but can include your logo, link, and the blurb and it
can remain up through the end of the year. I'm sure it will do
justice to you and the donation. Please just let me know if that will
work for you or if you'd prefer the donation returned.
I am sure you are as
surprised as I am that that there can be so much miscommunication
over something seemingly so simple. But communication by email is not
always a smooth ride.
I hope you both have
a great weekend.
Michael
On 6/1/12 2:43 PM, P* wrote:
Dear S*,
I am not sure where
the misunderstanding occurred, but no matter. I, for
some reason,
thought to send you
the logo and blurb, most likely because that was
what I saw on your
site, and I do not recall
(did not go back and
check) seeing any donation size, category of
gifting, etc. to
help clue me in as to what got posted
for a company
"sponsor".
I have no issue
therefore in S* simply keeping the money and using it
for their good
works, IF that is okay with you,
Norbert. Our
original purpose was to support Norbert in a way he desired
in return for his
continued support of P*
and its products.
Regardless, let's
keep it simple - I am happy leaving the donation as
is, and listing
Norbert's quote and a photo on our site, as was, I
believe, the
original agreement. I hate to think too much time and
anguish has been
spent on this. I totally appreciate Norbert's
concern and his
willingness to speak up on our behalf - THANK-YOU !
S*, no need to
re-arrange your site over this.
I hope everyone is
okay with this. If not, we can continue the
discussion next
week. I am returning from the Turks & Caicos
(EXCELLENT shark diving,
by the way) on Tuesday so will be
mostly/offline and
or going crazy for a day or two afterwards.
Have a great weekend
everyone, and thanx for all your efforts !
P*
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