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Article: On listening.(how fund raisers should listen to donors)
- Article from:
- Fund Raising Management
- Article date:
- December 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Hoke Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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There is a deeply held value in our culture to be independent, self-sufficient. Consequently, most of us probably prefer relationships that are reciprocal - those that have a give-and-take quality. We are uncomfortable being in debt to another. We look for opportunities to return a favor given. If we borrow, we also want to lend. In gift giving, we seek exchange, and we carefully weigh the value of those gifts to ensure reciprocity.
There are giving traditions in which great value is placed on outdoing one another in generosity. Among some Native American cultures in the Pacific Northwest, the potlatch is a custom of giving whereby each exchange involves a ...