Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9506020006
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEWART MacINNIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But, it was Davidson who was named the country's outstanding volunteer fund-raiser by the National Society of Fundraising Executives, which is made up of executives of nonprofit, charitable organizations.
"At least a dozen people - maybe 50 - in this community deserve it more than me," Davidson says, referring to the executive directors of many organizations. "They give so much of themselves to these organizations. They really have to be dedicated and believe in what they're doing."
Though modest about his contributions, Davidson obviously appreciates the award he received in front of about 3,200 people in Chicago in March.
Davidson, who retired after a 40-year career as a clothier, has used his business skills and extensive contacts in the community to raise money for numerous charitable groups. While raising money is serious business, it is a business Davidson enjoys. In fact, he doesn't consider it work at all.
His first taste of fund raising came in the late '60s, when he helped raise money for the United Jewish Appeal, but his involvement was small compared to what was to come.
In 1985, Davidson held the honorary title of vice president with the old Roanoke Lifesaving Crew. The organization needed to replace three aging ambulances and repair the roof of its building. The price was an estimated $145,000, but there was no money.
"I suggested they go to a professional group that would raise the money, but they said they couldn't afford it," he recalls. "So we set up a breakfast meeting at Community Hospital and invited the heads of 25 businesses and corporations and just made a pitch."
Most of the people attended and contributed on the spot. Davidson tracked down the ones who were unable to attend and was able to help raise all the money needed.
"That was my first real stint in fund raising," he says. "I really enjoyed it. I think a lot of the volunteer [lifesavers]. They put in as much as 100 hours a month in training, on call and responding to emergencies to protect us. It was a pleasure to help them raise the money."
In 1988, he was asked to help raise $1.6 million to renovate a building next to Center in the Square to allow the resident organizations of the center to use more of the space for public purposes. The money he helped raise brought in another $1.6 million in matching funds from the state.
Of course, as a former president of Downtown Roanoke and a member of the committee that helped kick off downtown revitalization, Davidson was familiar with Center in the Square. And, he continues to be interested in the future of the operation.
One organization in which he passionately believes is Literacy Volunteers of America. He began his association with the group as a volunteer tutor.
"When I started, I was assigned a student; and he was so eager to learn that it was a joy to work with him," Davidson says. "I think I got more out of it than he did."
After three years of tutoring, usually once a week at a branch library, the student's reading ability increased from the third-grade level to "where he was reading as good as I was, so we just ended it," Davidson says.
Literacy Volunteers had no executive director locally at the time, and Davidson took it upon himself to help raise money to hire someone to coordinate the program. He eventually became president of the organization, and now is a member of its governing board.
Literacy Volunteers, the Julian Wise Foundation, Center in the Square and Roanoke College are some of his pet projects now.
Davidson says he feels a strong commitment to the community.
"Roanoke has been good to my family," he says. "We worked hard, but people were good to us, too. It has to work both ways."
His father emigrated from Lithuania at the turn of the century and set up a clothing shop in Roanoke in 1910. Davidson learned the clothing business as he grew up. He graduated from Roanoke College and soon found himself slogging through the battlefields of World War II Europe.
"I don't know why I needed a college degree to be in the infantry," he says with a chuckle. "I wouldn't do it again for a million dollars, but I wouldn't trade the experience for a million dollars, either."
With the end of the war, Davidson returned to Roanoke and joined the family business. Over the years, he developed into one of the pillars of the business community, always involved in projects to boost the economy and culture.
His volunteer activities have kept him involved in the community since his retirement. Fund raising for charitable organizations is something he has found to be personally rewarding at the same time that it is helping the community.
"Some people would rather do anything than ask for money for a charitable cause," he says. "Well, I don't have that problem."
|By STEWART MacINNIS| |SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS|
S IG Davidson admits he's done a lot of work, but he says he can think of at least 12 people who are more deserving of a national volunteer award than he.
But, it was Davidson who was named the country's outstanding volunteer fund-raiser by the National Society of Fundraising Executives, which is made up of executives of nonprofit, charitable organizations.
"At least a dozen people - maybe 50 - in this community deserve it more than me," Davidson says, referring to the executive directors of many organizations. "They give so much of themselves to these organizations. They really have to be dedicated and believe in what they're doing."
Though modest about his contributions, Davidson obviously appreciates the award he received in front of about 3,200 people in Chicago in March.
Davidson, who retired after a 40-year career as a clothier, has used his business skills and extensive contacts in the community to raise money for numerous charitable groups. While raising money is serious business, it is a business Davidson enjoys. In fact, he doesn't consider it work at all.
His first taste of fund raising came in the late '60s, when he helped raise money for the United Jewish Appeal, but his involvement was small compared to what was to come.
In 1985, Davidson held the honorary title of vice president with the old Roanoke Lifesaving Crew. The organization needed to replace three aging ambulances and repair the roof of its building. The price was an estimated $145,000, but there was no money.
"I suggested they go to a professional group that would raise the money, but they said they couldn't afford it," he recalls. "So we set up a breakfast meeting at Community Hospital and invited the heads of 25 businesses and corporations and just made a pitch."
Most of the people attended and contributed on the spot. Davidson tracked down the ones who were unable to attend and was able to help raise all the money needed.
"That was my first real stint in fund raising," he says. "I really enjoyed it. I think a lot of the volunteer [lifesavers]. They put in as much as 100 hours a month in training, on call and responding to emergencies to protect us. It was a pleasure to help them raise the money."
In 1988, he was asked to help raise $1.6 million to renovate a building next to Center in the Square to allow the resident organizations of the center to use more of the space for public purposes. The money he helped raise brought in another $1.6 million in matching funds from the state.
Of course, as a former president of Downtown Roanoke and a member of the committee that helped kick off downtown revitalization, Davidson was familiar with Center in the Square. And, he continues to be interested in the future of the operation.
One organization in which he passionately believes is Literacy Volunteers of America. He began his association with the group as a volunteer tutor.
"When I started, I was assigned a student; and he was so eager to learn that it was a joy to work with him," Davidson says. "I think I got more out of it than he did."
After three years of tutoring, usually once a week at a branch library, the student's reading ability increased from the third-grade level to "where he was reading as good as I was, so we just ended it," Davidson says.
Literacy Volunteers had no executive director locally at the time, and Davidson took it upon himself to help raise money to hire someone to coordinate the program. He eventually became president of the organization, and now is a member of its governing board.
Literacy Volunteers, the Julian Wise Foundation, Center in the Square and Roanoke College are some of his pet projects now.
Davidson says he feels a strong commitment to the community.
"Roanoke has been good to my family," he says. "We worked hard, but people were good to us, too. It has to work both ways."
His father emigrated from Lithuania at the turn of the century and set up a clothing shop in Roanoke in 1910. Davidson learned the clothing business as he grew up. He graduated from Roanoke College and soon found himself slogging through the battlefields of World War II Europe.
"I don't know why I needed a college degree to be in the infantry," he says with a chuckle. "I wouldn't do it again for a million dollars, but I wouldn't trade the experience for a million dollars, either."
With the end of the war, Davidson returned to Roanoke and joined the family business. Over the years, he developed into one of the pillars of the business community, always involved in projects to boost the economy and culture.
His volunteer activities have kept him involved in the community since his retirement. Fund raising for charitable organizations is something he has found to be personally rewarding at the same time that it is helping the community.
"Some people would rather do anything than ask for money for a charitable cause," he says. "Well, I don't have that problem."
|By STEWART MacINNIS| |SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS|
S IG Davidson admits he's done a lot of work, but he says he can think of at least 12 people who are more deserving of a national volunteer award than he.
But, it was Davidson who was named the country's outstanding volunteer fund-raiser by the National Society of Fundraising Executives, which is made up of executives of nonprofit, charitable organizations.
"At least a dozen people - maybe 50 - in this community deserve it more than me," Davidson says, referring to the executive directors of many organizations. "They give so much of themselves to these organizations. They really have to be dedicated and believe in what they're doing."
Though modest about his contributions, Davidson obviously appreciates the award he received in front of about 3,200 people in Chicago in March.
Davidson, who retired after a 40-year career as a clothier, has used his business skills and extensive contacts in the community to raise money for numerous charitable groups. While raising money is serious business, it is a business Davidson enjoys. In fact, he doesn't consider it work at all.
His first taste of fund raising came in the late '60s, when he helped raise money for the United Jewish Appeal, but his involvement was small compared to what was to come.
In 1985, Davidson held the honorary title of vice president with the old Roanoke Lifesaving Crew. The organization needed to replace three aging ambulances and repair the roof of its building. The price was an estimated $145,000, but there was no money.
"I suggested they go to a professional group that would raise the money, but they said they couldn't afford it," he recalls. "So we set up a breakfast meeting at Community Hospital and invited the heads of 25 businesses and corporations and just made a pitch."
Most of the people attended and contributed on the spot. Davidson tracked down the ones who were unable to attend and was able to help raise all the money needed.
"That was my first real stint in fund raising," he says. "I really enjoyed it. I think a lot of the volunteer [lifesavers]. They put in as much as 100 hours a month in training, on call and responding to emergencies to protect us. It was a pleasure to help them raise the money."
In 1988, he was asked to help raise $1.6 million to renovate a building next to Center in the Square to allow the resident organizations of the center to use more of the space for public purposes. The money he helped raise brought in another $1.6 million in matching funds from the state.
Of course, as a former president of Downtown Roanoke and a member of the committee that helped kick off downtown revitalization, Davidson was familiar with Center in the Square. And, he continues to be interested in the future of the operation.
One organization in which he passionately believes is Literacy Volunteers of America. He began his association with the group as a volunteer tutor.
"When I started, I was assigned a student; and he was so eager to learn that it was a joy to work with him," Davidson says. "I think I got more out of it than he did."
After three years of tutoring, usually once a week at a branch library, the student's reading ability increased from the third-grade level to "where he was reading as good as I was, so we just ended it," Davidson says.
Literacy Volunteers had no executive director locally at the time, and Davidson took it upon himself to help raise money to hire someone to coordinate the program. He eventually became president of the organization, and now is a member of its governing board.
Literacy Volunteers, the Julian Wise Foundation, Center in the Square and Roanoke College are some of his pet projects now.
Davidson says he feels a strong commitment to the community.
"Roanoke has been good to my family," he says. "We worked hard, but people were good to us, too. It has to work both ways."
His father emigrated from Lithuania at the turn of the century and set up a clothing shop in Roanoke in 1910. Davidson learned the clothing business as he grew up. He graduated from Roanoke College and soon found himself slogging through the battlefields of World War II Europe.
"I don't know why I needed a college degree to be in the infantry," he says with a chuckle. "I wouldn't do it again for a million dollars, but I wouldn't trade the experience for a million dollars, either."
With the end of the war, Davidson returned to Roanoke and joined the family business. Over the years, he developed into one of the pillars of the business community, always involved in projects to boost the economy and culture.
His volunteer activities have kept him involved in the community since his retirement. Fund raising for charitable organizations is something he has found to be personally rewarding at the same time that it is helping the community.
"Some people would rather do anything than ask for money for a charitable cause," he says. "Well, I don't have that problem."
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB