And you had to explain, you know, it’s great to get them in, but the ongoing costs were not – you’re gonna have to raise a lot more money to keep something like that. So it was a training process, a give and take on some, so we tried at… Read More
How would you say your board shaped the zoo?… Read More
How did personalities or individuals influence the direction or the development the zoo went in?… Read More
For the most part they let us go, and we involved them in the process of what we were gonna build with the new zoo. So we got their involvement from the beginning. Although we kind of tried to, you know, sell them on why this might be better if… Read More
There were always some board members that had special teams you know what we need?… Read More
So he was able to do that. It was very individual. Politics sometimes get in the way and sometimes they help. Read More
Did fundraising, as far as you were involved, change over time with your involvement or did it always just stay the same the way you approached it?… Read More
Oh, the way I approached it, not my involvement. No because our part was pretty much all on raising the big funds for. Africa in the new part of the zoo. We hadn’t got to the next level where it would be different. You know, then you build some of… Read More
‘Cause you were a park. Entity. Read More
Or not?… Read More
I did not. We would use, well the director of parks. Would go on some of them. And it all depended who you use on how their relationship was politically with the city, the park district. It was kind of touchy on some things, so you would know who to… Read More
Oh yeah. We had… Not in itself, we had the Bielfeldt Foundation which is… They were both U of I grads where I had gone to school. Had made their money in commodities and whatever. Started their own foundation. But the nicest normal people I have ever met on a… Read More
And so I didn’t know how much it was gonna be or whatever, so we had set up the little thing and, you know, put these plants up, had a nice little thing, had the plans of what the zoo was gonna be, they got up there and made their… Read More
Did politics ever, were you ever able to raise funds using the political process?… Read More
Did you have a reason?… Read More
I know I’m gonna be able to do this with this person, with this company. ‘Cause I have a strategy for selling, as you said, selling the zoo. Again, we would sit down, I worked, we were lucky enough to have somebody from Caterpillar Tractor, is or was Peoria. And… Read More
We did some events at the country club. Again, on a different level, and the people that were there, we would have them come for cocktails and there’d be a presentation either by one of the co-chairs or with me too. If they had any specific questions about what they… Read More
During this time, were there any surprise donations?… Read More
Did you have a strategy for getting the funds for a specific project or generally, or were you just working with other people?… Read More
And you didn’t have your own… Did you have a…… Read More