Let’s talk about a hypothetical situation. Say you were on a small community organization that raised money for a dog park to make improvements.
The city government was strapped, and there were things that needed fixing up. The city said that the park was part the community’s job to maintain.
So a small group formed, and you were on the committee which raised a bunch of money to fix the park.
After the first batch of fixes were made, one of the members wanted to do another fundraiser, and organized it on his own as a last minute thing. You weren’t able to attend. There was no delivery of information about how much was raised and how much money went to what resources.
A few months have passed, and the guy is organizing another last-minute fundraiser, this time without so much of an invitation to the original committee to help. You reach out to him privately and say, “Hey, thanks for your involvement. Where is the money going and how can we see the records and books?”
The guy freaks out citing that where were you at the last fundraiser. “Well, I declined, as I was booked that night.”
The guy says, “Why the sudden interest?” He turns the tables on you.
What would you do in this hypothetical situation. Curious.
If I’m reading this right, you were part of the original effort that made improvements to the park but for work reasons you were unable to attend a previous fundraiser to this next one coming up?
If so, I would remind him of your original involvement and your continued interest in seeing the dog park improved. To that end you were just making a simple request to see what was accomplished with the previous fundraising efforts and what else he has planned that requires more fundraising.
Lastly if he was still being a jerk about the whole thing, I would have said that I’d gladly show him pics of the work you performed the night of the fundraiser, to prove you didn’t just blow it off, in exchange for the info you requested. However, I would follow the offer with a statement of curiosity to the sudden onset of paranoia with regards to your request for information.
Also I’m curious, why do you think he in any way turned the tables on you? Have you shared these concerns with any members of the original committee or vice versa? That he’s not reaching out to anyone from the original committee is suspicious enough let alone his shady timetables.
You asked a fair question and his paranoid reaction raises more than a few red flags.
I suppose I would ask why anyone would object to such transparency.
Hypothetically, of course.
You are all very astute when assessing my hypothetical situation.
I half posted this to validate the perspective that I’m not freaking nuts.
Here’s me smoothing it over (a little) in a public post. Notice his anger in his first comment:
Yeah, I still call shenanigans on the guy. If as he says, the net result of the fundraiser was just “a hundred bucks” than it should be easy stuff. I mean seriously, how difficult is it to write back and say, hey sure thing man. I spent $10 on turd baggies, $20 on pooper scoopers, $40 on a new hose, etc.
Methinks somebody is wound up around the axle a bit much and it ain’t you.
Well if it were me, I’d just be super nice and say “Oh, you shouldn’t have to do this all by yourself, let me help! Oh, and hey, since I’m a photographer- I’m going to donate some of my time taking some shots of the fundraiser. It may help if we decide to do more in the future!”
Then go to the fundraiser and make sure it’s all on the level. Take pictures to give a sense of the turnout and rough cost of organization, get tons of photo evidence. You’ll know soon enough if there is something fishy going on.
I’m inclined to think that how this event goes would be a good indicator of how the last one went as well.
Hypothetically, of course…….
Also, cleverly turn the tables back. Tell him that you are flabbergasted that he felt you were accusing him of anything- you and a few other commitee members felt that you were being left out and it was hurting some peoples feelings. The committee would feel more involved as a group if they felt included in the decision making process as to how to maximize the income of the fundraiser and how to spend the income from it. God, who would accuse someone of stealing? That’s totally not how the questions were intended. We just want to feel involved, that’s all!
I’m starting to think, Jer, that you lack any sneakyness whatsoever….
For the record, the guy is fucking nuts.
He’s a professional dog walker for godsakes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
But he’s had run ins with the committee in the past, and he’s the reason people lost interest.
That’s for the hypothetical record, of course…