A Volunteer’s Devotion to Charity Extends to Many Organizations

Carol Madson Russell raises money her way — not the “proper” way.

“They say that to do philanthropy effectively you should have a laser approach and devote your time

to one or two issues, but I’ve never been able to do that,” says Ms. Russell. “There are so many good organizations out there that do good things. I find it hard to draw the line.”

Over the past 30 years, the Omaha volunteer’s approach has worked just fine for an astonishing array of charities, many of them local affiliates of organizations that perennially appear in the Philanthropy 400 (such as this year’s No. 1, United Way).

Ms. Russell says she has worked as a volunteer fund raiser for more than 70 organizations, raising millions of dollars for children’s causes, arts groups, and health and human-services charities. She serves on the board of more than 20 groups, including local affiliates of such big national organizations as Boys & Girls Clubs of America (No. 16 in this year’s Philanthropy 400), Goodwill Industries International (No. 20), Planned Parenthood Federation of America (No. 62), Girls Incorporated (No. 306), and Camp Fire USA (No. 333).

In 2001, Ms. Russell and her husband, Rick, headed a campaign to raise funds for United Way of the Midlands, in Omaha, that brought in $19.3-million, even as Nebraskans were opening their wallets to aid the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The amount kept pace with the $19.3-million raised by the local United Way the previous year, and even beat it by about $30,000, says Kathy O’Hara, the group’s director of communications.

“There were not a lot of United Ways that held their own in that fund-raising environment, after 9/11, let alone see their fund raising go up slightly,” says Ms. O’Hara, who calls Ms. Russell “tireless.”

The campaign succeeded because it acknowledged the magnitude of the terrorist attacks, reflects Ms. Russell. “We encouraged people to give to disaster relief but said we have to take care of our own backyard too,” she says. “That was the single biggest fund-raising drive I’d ever done.”

Such efforts prompted the Association of Fundraising Professionals to honor Ms. Russell with its top award for a volunteer this past April.

‘You Have to Be Creative’

Her recent activities further testify to her dedication to the charities she champions. Ms. Russell helped guide a measure through the state legislature last year that offers donors tax credits when they make donations to charitable endowments in Nebraska, benefiting a variety of nonprofit organizations.

And when she wasn’t meeting with legislators or the governor, Ms. Russell raised more than $1-million, including $250,000 for the Omaha YWCA (she chaired the annual fund drive) and $40,000 for the Omaha Public Library, with an event that brought together Nebraska writers and artists.

Her favorite recent fund-raising event: a dog-themed dinner for Omaha’s Durham Western Heritage Museum that brought in more than $150,000. The dinner, held in conjunction with an exhibition of dog photos at the museum, featured dog bowls designed by local artists, donated doghouses, and a chocolaty snack mix for the guests called “puppy chow,” made by Ms. Russell and her mother, Eleanor Madson.

The event reveals plenty about the way that Ms. Russell works. “I’m a firm believer in a fun fund raiser,” she says. “Look at your audience and think about what people will go along with. You have to be creative.”

Family Values

Her mother’s involvement in the event shows how deep the roots of Ms. Russell’s philanthropy go. Fund raising has always been a family affair, says the 57-year-old.

“I grew up in a household where there wasn’t a lot of discretionary income, but my parents were always taking care of other people,” Ms. Russell recalls. “Maybe it was helping them with their taxes or taking them to the doctor, but you helped out however you could. I saw a lot of that growing up.” In her lifetime, she estimates, she has volunteered for more than 100 charities.

Ms. Russell, who previously managed two cancer-research studies at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (she holds a master’s degree in pathology), now works full time on her charitable activities. In an average week, she says, she spends up to 30 hours during the day, “and then more hours into the night, on the computer.”

In the three decades that she has been raising money for Nebraska charities, her interests have developed as she has. When her children were young, she notes, she worked on behalf of children’s causes. As they grew up, she turned her attention to the arts — the symphony and community theater. More recently, she has turned to health and human-service issues, drawing on her own background in medical research.

The tradition of giving has continued throughout her own family. Ms. Russell’s husband — whose family owns the Millard Lumber Company, Nebraska’s largest lumber yard — serves as a trustee of the Peter Kiewit Foundation, in Omaha, along with holding board seats at local hospitals, and he often joins his wife in fund-raising efforts. The couple gave about 20 percent of their income to charity last year, says Ms. Russell.

The Russells’ three children are also encouraged to donate their time and money.

“My daughter remembers her first volunteer experience from when she was 4 years old,” says Ms. Russell, recalling how young Sara tagged along with her mother to a Girls Incorporated health fair. “She was there when I was drawing blood.”

Today, Sara Boyd serves as a vice president of the Omaha Community Foundation. She helped draft the endowment-donation proposal her mother persuaded lawmakers to pass, and, like her two brothers, Joel and Mark Russell, volunteers in her spare time.

Ms. Russell credits her hometown for much of her fund-raising success. Omaha is the home of many millionaires. The headquarters of the Union Pacific railroad is there, as is the insurance company Mutual of Omaha, and Warren Buffett, the billionaire head of the diversified company Berkshire Hathaway, got his start in the city.

“People here really believe in giving back,” says Ms. Russell, noting that she hasn’t been shy about asking Omaha’s success stories to do their part for their community.

In 2002, Ms. Russell helped raise nearly $400,000 for Girls Incorporated of Omaha by auctioning off Mr. Buffett’s wallet, which she pried from the mogul by lobbying his daughter.

“He agreed to donate the wallet and The Wall Street Journal picked up the story, so we opened up the bidding to people anywhere in the country,” she says.

The wallet — which contained a stock tip, a Geico insurance card, and an expired Hooters restaurant card — ultimately fetched $210,000 (the winner was a non-Omahan). Mr. Russell, serving as an impromptu auctioneer, also put an additional Buffett stock tip up for bid and raised $200,000 more.

The event that featured the auction was another of the festive galas Ms. Russell favors. Titled “Cheeseburgers in Paradise,” it played off Mr. Buffett’s possible family tie to the singer Jimmy Buffett, who numbers a similarly named song among his hits. “People got hamburger and cheeseburger dinners for a mere $100,” Ms. Russell notes dryly.

Passion and Energy

While Ms. Russell is already well known in Nebraska, her hard work is beginning to attract attention beyond her home state. Her award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals came after Mary Colacurci, director of development at the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, in Lincoln, nominated Ms. Russell for statewide fund raiser of the year, her first step toward being entered into the national competition.

“Carol is truly an example of what one person can do to make a difference if they have enough passion, commitment, and energy,” says Ms. Colacurci, who notes that Ms. Russell serves as a vice president of her charity’s board.

“She does more than raise money,” says Ms. Colacurci. “She serves in leadership positions, but she also gets involved with the clients that these organizations serve. She doesn’t just sit on the board of a mentoring organization — she’s a mentor herself. That’s something a lot of people don’t know. She does so much more than anyone I’ve ever met. She’s truly extraordinary.”

So much volunteering, though, can take a toll: Ms. Russell says she does sometimes feel as though her energies are spread thinly.

She combats this, she says, with careful planning. She organizes each day’s tasks the night before, she says, and when she needs to run errands as part of her charity work, she consolidates them to minimize her time on the road.

And she is trying to learn how to “draw the line,” saying no to at least some of the dozens of charities that come to her for help.

“The word is out,” she jokes. “Sometimes I’ll be asked to chair something or take on a larger fund-raising role and I just can’t do it. I try to let them down gently. But I’m happy to help out if I have the time.”

Handling Volunteers

Charities that benefit from volunteer fund raisers like herself, she says, do best when they can make it fun for people to give their time and talents.

“Don’t make it too complicated,” she cautions. For example, she says, remember that “people come to an event to support an organization, not to have a gourmet meal.”

While Ms. Russell says that she would like to give more of her own money away in the future, she is trying to teach the next generations to get into the habit of giving, however modest the gift.

“You can encourage someone to give up a Coke or a latte. If they give $20 a year, that’s $20 that someone is benefiting from,” says Ms. Russell. Philanthropic values can be taught to children from an early age, she says. “It doesn’t have to be about giving lots of money. How about baking some cookies for a family?”

Heather Joslyn contributed to this article.