A $25 Million Dollar Surprise

This is the beginning of my new book about pay equity implementation in nonprofits. If you’d like to receive monthly updates from my book, then sign up here. I post weekly videos on our Instagram, too.

My boss sat me down in her office with an excited look. She wasn’t one to express many feelings, so I wasn’t quite sure what was happening. I had stopped by to ask a quick question. My boss was the new Executive Director of an arts nonprofit, and I was the Human Resources Manager. 

My boss looked around her office windows to see if anyone was passing by. Once she felt the coast was clear, my boss said, “I have some exciting news.” I didn’t think she was pregnant, and I wasn’t aware of any big events happening on our nonprofit horizon. So, I was not sure what was happening. Have I said that already? 

She said, “You can’t tell anyone, but we’ve received incredible news. One of our biggest donors has decided to give us a transformational endowment gift.” While fundraising wasn’t part of HR, I knew that a transformational endowment gift was welcome and unexpected news. She said, “This donor is giving us $25 million.” I was shocked. 

“Wait, what?” I said. I couldn’t believe my ears. Our current operating budget was $6 million, and our current endowment was $16 million. A $25 million endowment gift would increase our endowment by more than double. We used a draw down from our endowment for annual operating expenses, so I knew this was incredible news. But my boss wasn’t done yet. 

“You wanna know the even better news?”, she said. I couldn’t believe there was more. “The donors and I would like to use these new funds to help our employees. You’ve done quite a bit of research on this topic, and I want to hear your ideas on how to spend these extra funds.”

I’d like to say that I passed out here, but I just gave a deer in the headlights look at my boss and quickly left her office. Did that really happen? Did I hear my boss correctly? As I walked by my office, I passed by our Director of Development’s office. I poked my head in. “So, I just had an incredible conversation with our boss. Is it true?” The Director of Development just shook her head and laughed. I could see the secret joy in her eyes. 

This is the beginning of my new book about pay equity implementation in nonprofits. If you’d like to receive monthly updates from my book, then sign up here. I post weekly videos on our Instagram, too.