A Fund-Raising Campaign, its Successes and Failures

Te Ao Hou, December 1965, Page 42

A Fund-Raising Campaign, its Successes and Failures Some time ago the school committee in the district where I live decided to hold a King Carnival as a means of raising £4000 for the provision of swimming baths, a filtration plant and a library for the school. There were to be four candidates, each with his own committee, and the candidate who raised the most money was to be crowned king. The carnival was to start in the middle of September and to end a month later. The first three candidates were to represent different areas in the district and the fourth candidate, a Maori, was to represent the Maori people. This was a gesture on the committee's part which would give the Maori people, for the first time, an opportunity of playing an important part in this community. A Variety of Motives The Maori King committee consisted of a European chairman, a Maori secretary and treasurer, approximately fifteen Maori women, four Europeans (two men and two women), and the Maori candidate. This number fluctuated from time to time, and on an average there were about ten people on the committee. Apart from racial differences, it was interesting to note the members' quite diverse walks of life. Most were labourers or the wives of labourers; among the others were the wife of an architect, an insurance representative and a school-teacher. I had though that all the members had joined the committee to raise money for the school, but I soon found that this was not the case, and in fact there were three groups, each with a different attitude. There were some who simply wanted to help raise as much money for the school as possible, and who were concerned not so much with who won the campaign, as with doing their best for a common goal. Many of these people would have served just as willingly on any other committee. Then there were the ‘moderate’ Maoris, who had agreed to help the committee because the candidate was a Maori, a friend or a relative, and because they were at the same time going to help to raise money for their school. The last group, and fortunately the smallest, contained the Maori ‘extremists’, who were helping the candidate for the sole reason that he was a Maori. In fact, though a few of these people had children going to the school, their interest in the real objectives of the carnival was negligible. Among these people I sensed an almost desperate feeling of win or bust, a determination to give the Pakeha a fight for his money. Determined to Win The Maori committee held its first meeting about two months before the official starting-time, and the surge of opinion was to get started immediately. This they did, brushing aside the official starting-time of the Pakeha, which they regarded as meaningless. The school committee, of course, heard of this at once, and lacking understanding of the Maori, they ordered them to cease their activities forthwith. The Maori reaction to this was to threaten to withdraw completely. Many of them expressed the sentiment: if the Pakeha doesn't like our way of raising money and tries to tell us what to do, let him do it by himself. Faced with this situation, the school committee decided to compromise by allowing all the committees to start unofficially. At this stage many of the Pakehas seemed to be becoming suspicious, even apprehensive, of the Maoris. Seeing their determination to win and their premature enthusiasm, they weren't quite sure what the Maoris were going to do next. One thing they were convinced of—some people would be doing battle very seriously indeed. I confess that I was inclined to forget the basic objectives of the whole thing myself at first. I knew that nothing better could have happened than to see the Maori candidate win the carnival, for this would almost certainly have boosted the morale and standing of the Maoris in the community. Now I shall pass on to the actual events

of the campaign. In the early weeks four series of activities were organised: there were social evenings with hangi meals every Friday, card evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and ‘housie’ evenings on Wednesdays. The social evenings especially were most enjoyable and were financially successful. The four ventures alone involved a lot of work and organisation for those concerned. The net total profit was about £15. Successful Gala Day The official opening the carnival was marked by a gala day for which each committee provided tents and stalls. The Maori committee's tent was very popular, selling such things as flax baskets, Maori bread, pois and leis, as well as European goods. They also ran a coconut shy, ice-cream stalls and a hangi, which proved equally attractive to both races. But probably one of the most popular attractions of the day was a series of performances given by the school concert party, which had been organised only about four weeks previously among the local Maori children. In this time they had made astonishing progress, and despite a nervousness which commonly accompanies first performances, they acquitted themselves most creditably. A jamboree was next on the schedule; translated, this meant a dance on a big scale held in a large woolshed. This had the promise of being a roaring success, but on the advice of a Maori welfare officer, it blew itself out rather early; certain sections of the crowd were becoming uncontrollable. The last major undertaking was a talent quest, with performances by the children's concert party as well. This was originally to have been a local affair, held on a Wednesday evening, but it was changed to a Friday night and held in a nearby town. The attendance was quite small, however; this was due, I think, to poor advertising and to the fact that it was not held on the most convenient night. Numerous weekly raffles brought in a steady income. Two last-minute dances were financial failures. Last by a Wide Margin When the final figures were counted at the end of the carnival, it was revealed that the Maori committee had lost the race financially by a very wide margin. In fact, the winners had earned almost three times as much as the Maoris while the second to last committee had collected twice as much. Can we then interpret the Maori effort as a failure, and how can this failure be accounted for? And can other Maori money-raising committees benefit from this committee's experiences? I believe that they can, for in many spheres they did fail, and my hope is that others should recognise these pitfalls and try to avoid them—a task which would be by no means easy, and which would require all the determination of the controlling committee. It has been argued that the Maori committee did extremely well to raise as much as they did, and I agree. But I am convinced that they could have done much better had they directed their efforts towards more fruitful resources. Lack of Effective Organisation Within the committee there was a lack of firm and effective organisation. Many things were proposed but few were followed through, and I attribute this to a lack of firmness on the part of the committee's controllers. Their explanation—a quite valid one—for allowing themselves to be carried along with popular opinion, was that if they disagreed, they were afraid that the Maoris would be offended and would withdraw from the organisation—in other words, the only way to win their confidence was to agree with their suggestions! There was no strict adherence to the minute book, formal correspondence was ignored, and many agreements and arrangements were made orally and not through the proper channels, with the result that many promises of help did not materialise. What probably deprived the Maori committee of that little extra efficiency was a lack of sound economics. With many of their ventures the nett profit did not justify the expenditure and the amount of labour which were put into them. Far too much time and work was invested in trivial evenings which earned literally only a couple of pounds. It would have been much easier and more profitable to have worked hard and done a good job of organizing one or two functions a week, rather than four or five. No-one had any real control over expenditure and thus too many unnecessary expenses were incurred. Instead of the treasurer's authorising money matters—purchasing goods and paying accounts—any member could go out and buy what they thought was needed. And of course the payment of these unexpected accounts meant a further dwindling of profits

from functions. This uninhibited spending may to some extent have been a reflection of the liberal mode of spending in some of the members' homes. In the schemes for making money it seemed to me that there was an excessive reliance on liquor. Apart from the talent quest, every venture involved liquor in some way. It must be conceded that the other committees also relied on liquor to an extent, but they balanced this with other more ‘respectable’ and interesting functions. I heard this said quite frequently: ‘the only way we can make money is through booze and gambling’. I need hardly elaborate on the implications of this casual statement. Little Use Made of Maori Culture It was a pity that the Maori people did not display and exploit more of their Maori culture. To the critics of commercialised and superficial forms of Maori culture, I would point out the three virtues of this form of entertainment: (1) it displays a different and positive side of Maori life to the European; (2) the Maori participants learn and therefore help to revive their Maoritanga while simultaneously employing harmless European melodies; (3) in the process, money can be made for a specific cause. The Maori people's reluctance and indifference to the suggestion that they form a concert party was indicative of the gradual decline of their culture in this utilitarian world. Once the children's concert party was formed the parents gave it their full support, but the children were still not shown off to full advantage. Despite what many people would assume, not all Maoris supported their candidate. Though they had in theory more manpower (they could call on many Maoris from outlying districts), in fact the actual percentage which helped the committee was quite small, especially towards the end of the carnival when their numbers fell drastically. Personal differences between various Maoris, a failing found in all societies, accounted for some people's refusal to take part: A wouldn't join because B was there, whom A disliked for such-and-such a reason. Many were too shy to offer their services, while many on the committee were too shy to go out and ask them. Some Maoris were not interested in a campaign to raise money for the school (just as many Europeans were not) while there were a very few who would have nothing to do with the ‘Pakeha’ campaign. The scattered population caused difficulties too; many of the people who would otherwise have given valuable support lived in areas some distance away. Finally, there were some people in these scattered areas who because of grudges of various kinds, regarded the Maoris in the central area as a ‘dead-loss’ crowd and refused to help them. And so one sees that the common concept of all Maoris pulling together when the occasion demands it is not really correct—or that this is, at any rate, fast disappearing. Probably the most disturbing note was struck by the absence of Maori men on the committee. All other committees enjoyed a full quota of men, but on the Maori committee there were only two Maori males who made a brief appearance, and one or two others who worked behind the scenes preparing hangis and pitching tents. Some of the men might have been too self-conscious in gatherings such as these, preferring to work away from the public eye. The excuse was offered that many of them worked overtime, but I knew of numerous men who habitually frequented the pub and then spent the evening at home. It seemed that the main reason for the scarcity of men was that to them, fund-raising and committee work were something for the women. There was a feeling that anything to do with school was not their affair. The Credit Side On the credit side, and I consider this to be just as important as the unsuccessful aspects, there were spheres in which the Maoris did have successes. There were many instances in which Maoris formed new or closer friendships with Europeans, and in which Europeans who worked with the Maori committee gained a better knowledge and understanding of Maoris. Most Europeans who were asked or assistance or donations in any form gave it willingly, thus illustrating the readiness of both races to co-operate for the benefit of their children. And one must mention the amount of time and energy which the Maori committee members gave. Of all the committees, none worked harder than the Maori one. I believe their greatest success lay in the fact that they showed an interest in the campaign, and that by contributing to it, accepting responsibilities and carrying them out as fully as they could, they helped to establish the Maori people as an integral and substantial part of the community. —K.C.G.