The key to being a successful fundraiser is to be open and truthful, Harris Gulko says.
Having a little charm doesn’t hurt either.
The Toronto-born and raised Gulko, who has been living in Winnipeg for the past 10 years, has just launched his new book, Confessions of a Professional Fundraiser, in which he uses entertaining anecdotes to tell the story of his more than 40 years as a Jewish community fundraiser.
One anecdote he recounts occurred many years ago at a community function in Toronto. He was sitting with a friend named Lou Lockshin.
“This older man, Itchy Meyer Korolnek, walked past us and nodded at Lou,” Gulko recalls. “He kept walking past a table where Morris Kaufman was sitting and talking. As Itchy Meyer approached Morris Kaufman’s table, Morris pulled out his wallet and took out $100. Itchy Meyer took the $100 bill from Morris as he was passing – without saying a word – and kept on walking.
“I was flabbergasted. I turned to Lou and asked what just happened. Lou explained that Korolnek was retired from the scrap metal business and had become a volunteer fundraiser. Kaufman was still in the business. Kaufman was a busy man and didn’t want to keep Korolnek waiting in his office. He promised that whenever the two men met in public, Kaufman would give Korolnek a $100 bill to donate to any charity of Korolnek’s choice.”
Gulko’s career in Jewish public service began at a young age. “When I was 16, my older sister invited me to a Young Judaea meeting,” he recalled. “Having always been quite vocal, I made an impression and was soon offered a paid position as a Young Judaea youth group leader on Sunday mornings.”
His work as a youth group leader attracted the attention of people at the UJA who offered the young man a part-time job, which soon became a full-time job. The Jewish National Fund office was in the same building.
“The JNF Ontario executive director was being promoted to the national office in Montreal,” Gulko said. “I was invited to be the new JNF Ontario executive director. I was 25 or 26 years old.”
Ten years later, Gulko himself was promoted to be the JNF’s national director for Canada.
“I really took to fundraising,” he said. “I seemed to know what to say, how to say it and what interested people. I also was able to discern after a short time whether or not I was going to get a contribution.
“I never turned anybody off. No one ever crossed the street when they saw me coming.”
Gulko served as CEO and national director of JNF Canada until 1979, the year, he and his family made aliyah. In Israel, he continued to work for JNF with responsibility for the United States desk. But he wasn’t happy in the position, and after five years, he resigned. Shortly after that, he was appointed international director of development for Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem. He had been a hospital board member and was invited to assume the new position after helping to establish the first chapter of Canadian Friends of Herzog Hospital in Toronto.
“It has been a real pleasure being able to earn a living by persuading other people to give money to good causes,” he said. “It has been a real delight.”
Confessions of a Professional Fundraiser is the fourth book Gulko has written in his retirement years. “I find that writing helps to stimulate my memory,” he said.
Gulko is donating all proceeds from the book to Boys Town Jerusalem, a school for underprivileged boys. The suggestion, he said, came from Winnipeg Jewish Post and News publisher Bernie Bellan.
“I hadn’t thought about Boys Town in a long while. Bernie’s suggestion reminded me of one of my early JNF missions to Israel. Eric Exton was one of the participants. He wanted to see Boys Town. It wasn’t on our itinerary, but I got a cab and we drove there. Eric fell in love with the place, and after returning to Canada, founded Canadian Friends of Boys Town Jerusalem.”
Confessions of a Professional Fundraiser is available here.
