I answered to the chairman of the board. It was a board of 10 members. Five from the city, five from the county that were nominated by the committee. The city members had to have the mayor approval. The county had to have the county executives’ approval, but they nominated… Read More
So the chairman was part of that?… Read More
They then elected the chairman and so I reported to the chairman. But all decisions of the chairman had to be ratified by the board of 10. So you had to have a real good relationship with the chairman. I had to have a good relationship with him, hopefully all… Read More
Did you feel it was important to get those people to the zoo?… Read More
I think the behind-the-scenes tour is what got us interested in the zoo, absolutely. In fact, our travel program, we started out taking members on safari. Many of the people that went on safari in the early days were upcoming executives and civic leaders. And today, they’re among our major… Read More
And the board, you had to answer to a board?… Read More
“So did we qualify as a recipient?… Read More
We had the benefit of his gifts in the past.” And he said, “Yes, why don’t you prepare a proposal and make it substantial, couple several million dollars?… Read More
Because we have that capability. The weight of your proposal depends on the merit of the proposal.” So we wrote up a proposal and we were awarded 2 1/2 million which we were really surprised to get. But the trust has consistently supported the zoo to large-numbered gifts. But that’s… Read More
Once in a while, I did. It was someone that I had influence with. Read More
Were there any big surprises to you that you walked into a meeting and you were asking for 500,000 and they gave 7 million?… Read More
No, I wouldn’t say surprise. But there was a gentleman in St. Louis named Dana Brown who owned Dana Brown Coffee company later called Tiger Brand Coffee. And I got to meet him at a dinner once and I invited him out for a behind-the-scenes tour. And he came out… Read More
So I got our development director together and we called the foundation and we reminded them that Dana Brown had sent several checks to the zoo. Read More
Were they making you the point guy?… Read More
By the time we got into serious fundraising, we had a foundation of executives from the St. Louis area that were not only donors to the zoo but also very familiar with the people in St. Louis that had either the corporate foundation or family money behind. And so I… Read More
Okay, so did you ever have to do the ask?… Read More
And as a director, what were some of your big challenges?… Read More
I guess in the early days was fundraising. Fundraising. I’m sorry. I can’t go beyond any challenges. I’m sorry, I can’t think of any or call ’em great challenges. Just being accepted, I guess. Well let’s just talk about fundraising for a second. Read More
Did you take to it easily?… Read More
Well since the zoo was part of the Zoo Museum District, it was not really under either the city or the county. But we always had a warm, friendly relationship with both the mayor and the county executive. So it was one of cooperation. Read More