So a couple of years ago I ran into a neighbor when I was taking a bus downtown for a tech seminar. I knew she worked for the local university alumni office fundraising department so I asked what her current project was. She said she was researching “the giving habits of those who donate $250,000,000.00 or more.” She said it was… different.

I was reminded of this when Bridget Crawford of Feminist Law Professors mentioned serious but very difficult to address issue

Earlier this week the Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article called “The Wrong Type of Solicitation” about the sexual harassment of higher education planned-giving personnel.  

“Sexual harassment can occur in any job, but certain aspects of fund raising make it more likely. For one thing, women now dominate the profession. Three-fourths of the 30,000 members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals are female.

In many cases, those women are appealing to older, powerful men for large donations. To succeed, fund raisers must build long-term relationships with donors. And they often visit donors in their homes or meet them in social settings where alcohol and personal information are plentiful.”

Read the whole post and follow Crawford’s links here.

The impression my friend gave me is that the fraction-of-a-billion-dollar donors rarely involve themselves directly with fundraising staff. But there are plenty of others who may be willing and able to play bullshit/bullying games that go beyond asking to have buildings or departments named after them. And there are very, very few fundraisers who’s agencies are in a position to decline a donor who’s being an asshole, let alone out them.