Mild-mannered birder turns into Super Fundraiser
By Ilana DeBare
Whether you count birds for your life list or simply count the days until your next bird outing, here’s a number that will impress you:
106 donors.
Each of whom gave money to sponsor Dan Harris in last year’s Golden Gate Bird Alliance Birdathon!
Yes, Dan got 106 of his friends and family members to donate to Birdathon, raising a whopping sum of $2,526 – the most of any Birdathon participant in 2015.
Hearing a number like that, you might think that Dan has some kind of fundraising super-powers. Maybe a salesman by profession? Or a bundler for political candidates?
But no… this super-fundraiser is a normal guy who loves birds, volunteers with Golden Gate Bird Alliance, and got over his initial fear of asking people to support GGBA.
“I was somewhat apprehensive at first asking family and friends for money,” Dan recalled, “but was pleasantly surprised, overwhelmed, and humbled by the tremendous support received from so many people.”
Dan Harris / Photo by Ilana DeBare
Dan, a retired environmental planner with the U.S. Department of Transportation, lives in San Francisco and started birding about seven years ago when his friend Jeff took him to see waterfowl at Las Gallinas Storage Ponds in San Rafael. He loved it and bought his own binoculars. Jeff would take Dan and other friends birding in Marin and Sonoma Counties and out to the Sacramento Valley. But after a while Dan realized, “Hey, I’m retired, I don’t have to wait for Jeff and my other working friends to go birding, I can go on my own!” and started taking part in Golden Gate Bird Alliance field trips and classes.
Dan’s first Birdathon was 2013. He signed up for a trip to Coyote Hills and saw that the suggested fundraising goal for that trip was $500.
“I thought, ‘How am I going to raise $500?’” Dan reasoned, “I figured a $10 donation is not too much to ask, so I just need to get fifty people to give $10. I sent emails to 50 or 60 people. I was overwhelmed by their generosity and ended up raising $857.”
Ring-necked Ducks, photographed in Golden Gate Park during a past Birdathon by Dan Harris
How did he come up with a list of 50 or 60 people? It wasn’t as hard as it sounds. He sent emails to various folks from his hiking group, his havurah (a Jewish family group), his friends and family, his wife’s friends and family, former co-workers, and fellow birders he’d met on Audubon walks.…