Making the Mission Part of a Fund-Raising Gala

Coping in the Downturn

By Holly Hall
Contributor

The Natural Resources Defense Council invited the food writer Michael Pollan to quiz donors about the environmental harm caused by the food they ate at a benefit. The Natural Resources Defense Council invited the food writer Michael Pollan to quiz donors about the environmental harm caused by the food they ate at a benefit.

October 16, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute

Cocktails followed by a silent auction, followed by dinner and a live auction. Sometimes it can be hard for wealthy patrons to tell one charity gala from the next.

That’s why the Natural Resources Defense Council (No. 218) has worked hard to make its annual gala reflect its mission.

In 2009 the charity added Growing Green Awards to honor one or more environmental activists at its annual gala in San Francisco. And it has found other ways to get donors focused on environmental issues at the fund-raising benefit. For example, last year the well-known food writer Michael Pollan served as the master of ceremonies and quizzed the charity’s guests about issues such as the carbon emissions used to prepare the dinners they were eating that night.

“It got people at their tables talking about the connection between food and the environment and agribusiness,” says Jack Murray, director of development.

Growing Green netted the Natural Resources Defense Council more than $211,000 in its first year and $334,000 the second.