EDITORIAL – Hiring a PAC fundraiser is a good idea but at what cost?
Artist’s conception of new PAC
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
HIRING SOMEONE to raise donations for Kamloops mega projects might sound to some people like a strange thing to do after the City pushed through multi-million borrowing bylaws for a performing arts centre and a sports complex.
What? “We’re already going to pay for these things through our taxes and now you want us to hand over more?” “You want to pay somebody to part us from our hard-earned dollars?” “Will the greed at City Hall ever end?”
But think this through. Major civic projects are very seldom paid for 100 per cent through taxes that repay construction or service debt. We pay for our healthcare facilities, for example, but donations create opportunities for enhancements that otherwise wouldn’t happen.
So, every dollar somebody donates to the PAC, or the ice arena, that’s a dollar that benefits you. Or, if you don’t use such facilities, it certainly benefits those who do, and cuts the amount that has to be obtained through taxation.
It also creates opportunities to raise money from those who live outside the city but who will enjoy the use of the new facilities when they come into town.
But who will pay for this fundraiser? The most likely scenario is to hire a fundraiser on contract. Fundraising is no easy job but there are many available who do such work. It takes a lot of skill to organize and run a good fundraising campaign, and a professional can be much more successful than a bunch of amateurs doing it off the sides of their desks.
However, we need to know what the costs will be. It sounds as though hiring such a person is more aspirational right now than a firm plan. Before anyone gives another nickel, the administrative costs of fundraising must be clearly laid out.
An acceptable percentage for administrative costs of fundraising is usually around five to 15 percent. So if you give a dollar, 85 to 95 cents should actually see its way into the project.
Once residents have a number, they can decide whether to join in.
Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes for the Kamloops Chronicle and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Put the fundraiser position on contract only, with a commission structure that requires no upfront costs to be invested by the City. If such a person or company can generate millions of dollars in donations with a reasonable financial incentive, wouldn’t that be a solution that everyone could live with?
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good Gawd. The taxpayers cannot afford Another manager, supervisor, coordinator of anything! This needs to stop
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And this “fund raisers” effort was never brought up from the beginning. It appears they make it up as they stumble along. Not professional nor reassuring.
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Hiring a fund raising guru might sound like a great idea. But there are so many red flags and gaps in what has been reported on Castanet and CFJC. And although I skimmed the memo to the Build Kamloops Select Committee, it really didn’t clarify much. A lot of words, not much meaningful content.
Both news sources quote Hallinan as saying that a chief fundraiser in a full time manner would earn less than 1% of the $40 million goal. CFJC’s reporting adds the modifier “ideally” earn…. Ideally?! 1% of $40 million is $400,000!! Is that $400,000 a base salary? Does it include benefits? Personal expenses like travel ? Miscellaneous other expenses? Even a contract employee gets benefit payments and expenses paid. Will there also be a 5%-10% investment into fundraising infrastructure? What are the parameters? What might be the repercussions on the individual’s pay if $40 million isn’t raised? Will there be a clawback of salary?
So many unanswered questions. Clarity is needed.
The memo sent to the Build Kamloops Select Committee advises of Administration’s INTENT to hire a campaign manager, their INTENT to establish the position, etc, etc. Staff are currently working on developing a detailed job description. It’s obvious that they fully expect City Council to rubber stamp this hiring. Based on past experiences, there’s no reason to assume otherwise.
CFJC quotes Hallinan as saying “Right now, we’re looking at this person creating what that requirement is going to look like and what the capacity and needs are going to be”. What requirement? What capacity! What needs? Of the position itself or of the fundraising initiative?
Perhaps instead of adding another body to the already bloated management structure – either as a contract person, staff hire, permanent or temporary – one of the many staff members who have been performing these tasks off the side of their desks, could be seconded to assume the role of campaign manager for a set period. And the salary wouldn’t need to be raised to a $400K level!
It infuriates me that City Council couldn’t afford to hold a referendum on whether or not to proceed with the PAC and multiplex so used AAPs. Residents DID NOT approve the borrowing/projects in any meaningful way. It infuriates me that City Council couldn’t afford to afford to mail notices to all residents about those AAPs or the recent ones for the Tranquille Upgrade and McMaster Way property. What did they spend to publicize the AAP regarding the shared KSAR headquarters and Kamloops Fire Rescue facility in Rayleigh? Yet somehow it’s going to be perfectly ok to spend somewhere in the neighbourhood of half a million dollars for another highly paid city employee?! Even if the $$ are taken out of the donations, there’s still an impact on Kamloops taxpayers.
According to the graph on page 28 of the City’s 2026-2030 financial plan, total city debt was about $50 million in 2024. By 2029 it’s expected to be about $450 million, including Build Kamloops estimates. An 8-fold increase over 5 years?! That’s absolutely obscene! This Council and all of the highly paid City Administrators need to be gone!!
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It is very common for grant-writers to be paid a percentage of any successful grant applications. Perhaps this arrangement could be an incentive-based strategy for Build Kamloops and the city when hiring a fundraiser.
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Interesting idea! Results-based pay, rather than a guaranteed high salary no matter what gets accomplished! Payment for success rather than for attendance sounds like a much better way to proceed. What’s a typical percentage?
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Not only the administrative costs will need to be clearly laid out but what about the building costs for each project be clearly laid out? That hasn’t happened. Let’s start taking bets on how many (and for how much) price revisions there will be.
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