Faces of WID - Winter 2025

Name:  Janet Lawn
Title & Organization: Chief Campaign Officer – Samaritans, Inc.
WID Role: Member since 1996
Hometown: Jamestown, NY
Lives Currently: Riverside, RI
Hobbies: Gardening and Photography

Do you read Faces of WID?
Yes, I do. It is always interesting to see what people are doing, and I enjoy the variety of work women are doing now. WID does a good job featuring people at different career stages.

When and how did you join the development field?
I have always been in nonprofit work, starting with community organizing. However, I first encountered fundraising when I was working at RESOLVE, the national infertility patient advocacy organization, where I supported the volunteer-run chapters, including helping them raise local funds to support their work.

I like how concrete [the work] is… You have clear goals. You always know what you have to achieve. But what really drew me to the field was the opportunity to support causes I deeply care about.

How long have been in the field?
A very long time! I believe 30-plus years.

Is there someone who has shaped or influenced your career in development? If so, in what way?
I grew up in a family that was very active in the community, such as the civil rights movement, welfare rights, and Catholic social justice. Heather Clark at Horizons for Homeless Children was the first person I worked with professionally in fundraising who helped me at the start of my career in advancement. She was and is a great mentor.

With your experience, tell us a bit about why fundraising is important to achieve an organization's mission.

I believe fundraising is key to achieving the mission of an organization. Unrestricted fundraising gives the organization the freedom to prioritize and fulfill its goals.

Why did you join WIDGB?
When I started in fundraising, I didn’t have a lot of experience or knowledge of the field. WID events were a great place to learn about the field and what others are doing. It has especially been great for networking and professional development.

Describe your biggest development success story to date.
I have two:

  • When I first got to Samaritans, we were very much an events-driven organization. There was limited individual or major gifts fundraising and a small staff. Together with others, we built the infrastructure for deeper relationship-based fundraising while still growing the events that are important to our community. Since then, we launched a $26 million campaign. It takes time to grow and build this capacity and I’m happy at where we are now after 10 years.
  • GLAD Law (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders) was a bootstrap organization. In 2003 when we won the first same sex marriage equality case in the nation, we were suddenly flooded with attention and support. We had to learn and adjust quickly to leverage those opportunities strategically. It was an exciting (and stressful!) time that changed the world.

How do you incorporate principles of DEI into your development work?
Fundraising by its nature is a “people with privilege” kind of thing. I think we have to be very conscious of how our organizations incorporate DEI in everything we do, including how we raise money. Many of us carry implicit bias around how communities give back and support their community. It doesn’t all look the same.

The more discretionary money we have and the more effective our fundraising, the more opportunities we have to help those in need. If an organization is constantly struggling to survive, it’s much harder to be sure we are working with a DEI lens—to do the extra outreach, attract staff that reflect the communities we serve, and be thoughtful in our planning and implementation. We have to have money for that. DEI should not be a luxury—we must have both the commitment and the resources to make it happen.

What advice would you offer to someone new in the field of development?
Jump in! You can make a difference. There is so much you can do with fundraising, and so many different opportunities. There are so many causes you can support with development. It’s a great field!

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