ABOUT

The Beginning

In 1983 it was as usual the best of times and the worst of times. Wisconsin had just passed its first in the nation Gay Rights law and Wisconsin had also recorded its first AIDS case. President Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Governor Tony Earl was in the East Wing. Impulses from both the best and the worst would help fuel the creation of the New Harvest Foundation. The pride in having little old Wisconsin surpass so many other big coastal states where advocates had been trying to pass similar state laws for many years was tangible. If we in Wisconsin could do that, what else could we do? Larger communities had recently started gay and lesbian foundations. As we looked around and found we did not have one, the natural impulse was of course we should have one in our own advanced community. Weren't we as good or even better than some of those places? Yet, the reality of the "advanced" nature of the community did not live up to the bright gleaming phantasm. Resources from the community to fund needed services were paltry. One of the main sources of income for community organizations was volunteers doing the coat check at the local gay bar. Party loving friends Dick Wagner and Dan Curd along with other friends started to host theme events to help. An "Alice B. Toklas Birthday Party" for the United, "A Night on Key West" for the Gay Center and other events helped raise some cash. This showed that asking for help and providing some fun could work.

The Planning

The situation provoked discussions among a group of young and just getting established professionals who saw a community need and resolved to do something about it. But they wanted to do it right and there were some past examples of community organizations squabbling over the proceeds of fundraising events. So with six months of discernment discussions, mainly held at 739 Jennifer Street, a house with a history of fairy spirits, this group sorted through many principles to guide the new effort. Among these principles was that, as a community of substance, we could pick mainstream society rather marginal models. Thus it was agreed rather early that an ambitious fundraising goal and a foundation for ongoing fundraising would be the focus of the effort. Jerry Dahlke, a professional fundraiser, specializing in the arts, encouraged big thinking. This meant that the focus of the foundation would be on the potential donor community. This was a conscious choice for a new direction since most local community efforts to that date had been activist based. Some for awhile had felt that the model of an umbrella organization with all community interests represented might be an alternative. However, the foundation model decided on also fit with the desire not to compete with community organizations by creating another membership organization, but to have a self-renewing board for the foundation. One principle early agreed about by the board was to require gender parity. The group of discussants had a lively mix of men and women and wanted to build that partnership for the future. While it was recognized that some community organizations could be gender focused, this effort could not be. One problem with a focus on the donor community was that many had no connection to the activist community and wished some distance from the same. Remember it was a different time. The problem was addressed by being clear about the purpose of the foundation, but by embracing a non-exclusive identity/orientation for the foundation. Thus it was hoped that fundraising might not be exclusively gay/lesbian. There was also a desire for a potential public gay/lesbian community dinner or event that would attract mainstream interest as had by then occurred in other places, but had not then yet occurred in Madison. These folks saw no reason why the Urban League dinner was a must on the public schedule, but there was no comparable gay/lesbian event. One way to reach out to the larger community and make nervous closeted folks feel safer was to follow the early model of the United which had ostensible straights, known jocularly as "OSs" on the board. So we recruited among others Dane District Attorney James Doyle, Jr., who had supported the Dane County nondiscrimination ordinance and agreed to lend support to the foundation. As noted in some past occurrences there had been problems with distributing funds based on either claims of need or on claims of contributed effort/volunteer hours. It was decided that the new foundation would be a regular grant based awarding organization like mainstream and government funding sources. This also reflected a desire that community organizations be nurtured in grant-writing skills so they could also seek those broader funds.

The Name

One of the big problems was what to call the Foundation. Most of the others around the country had moved towards the slightly ambiguous approach by not explicitly including gay or lesbian in the name. Milwaukee's foundation was known as Cream City based on a brick color. This problem was discussed for many months. Some suggested an attribute or symbol of the broader community like Dome might be a name but this provoked no sympathetic responses. Themes about cows were likewise rejected. Finally at one meeting Karla Dobinski suggested New Harvest. It drew on the vaguely agricultural linkages and Midwestern nature of Dane County. It had an implication that this was new work of bringing in bounty that had been cultivated but not yet reaped for the community. It also spoke to the hope we had for younger generations not having to go through the grief some of us had experienced growing up in the shadows. Some quickly thought of named categories of giving like harvesters, gleaners, etc. And many bad jokes were made about harvesting fruits. An early symbol used for the Foundation was a cornucopia patterned on the state coat of arms. One curious later follow up to the name was when we applied to the IRS for tax exemption. Under the Reagan era government we were cautioned not to mislead people into thinking we were an agricultural organization. This was of course well before Will Fellows and his book Farm Boys with his standing joke about how one pronounced John Deere.

The Launch

How to announce the new effort was the next problem. Most mainline fundraising efforts set a goal and then quietly raise a substantial sum to have for a launch announcement. At this time many gay/lesbian community organizations had annual budgets of $3,000 or less. A goal of $10,000 at first seemed wildly optimistic. But eventually by planning a three-year giving option the goal was set at $25,000 for the kickoff. Organizers and future board members dug deep and persuaded some friends to help so over $10,000, then an unheard of sum, would already be committed by the time the effort went public. Though there remained many doubters that professional people would contribute their skills, time, and funds to the effort rather than just party at the bars, an initial Board was recruited. Next, Mayor Joe Sensbrenner was asked and agreed to sponsor the kickoff event. The venue of the Marquee Room at the Civic Center was chosen as the site. The invites went out. And people came. And the Foundation was launched with a great success and a toast to our future.

Dick Wagner - February 2, 2004

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