Build a ‘Good-Luck Fly Trap’: Lessons from a Grass-Roots Drive

George Lewis says he’s learned that “the tools in your toolbox” for a small, essentially penniless nonprofit like the Catoctin Aqueduct Restoration Fund are planning, hard work, perseverance, and integrity.

Dr. Lewis, a veterinarian, has led a volunteer fund-raising effort to support the rebuilding of a collapsed stone aqueduct on a stretch of the C&O Canal National Historical Park, which extends from Washington to Cumberland, Md.

Of all the tools he put to work, integrity is especially important, he says.

“All these people trusted me and the Park Service. You have to make sure you don’t betray that.”

Other lessons he says might help small groups:

Show people where the money will go. He learned, in a sense, to market the canal—making potential donors see how they might have a personal attachment to it. For some, the attachment might be an interest in history or hiking; for others, a desire to boost tourism in Frederick County or improve the park’s amenities to make the region more appealing to potential employees.

Seize smart openings. “You have to create opportunities for good luck to happen to you,” says Dr. Lewis. Someone he met on the canal, for instance, turned out to be a well-known designer of stamps for the U.S. Postal Service, and the man volunteered to contribute a poster that could be given away as a thank-you to donors.

Someone else organized four five-kilometer runs that have not only benefited the restoration fund but also brought its message to people who might not have otherwise heard about it.

Dr. Lewis puts the idea simply enough: “You’ve got to build a good-luck fly trap.”