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Raising money is Roussell's specialty By JONEL ALECCIA If raising money under duress is a special talent, Ed Roussell apparently possesses it in spades. As the development director for the Crater Lake Council Boy Scouts of America, Roussell generated some $400,000 - including $200,000 in new funds - just as the agency was embroiled in a nationwide debate over homosexuality. That didn't include another $31,000 that came in after Roussell articulated the Scouts' point of view in the media. Now, 18 months later, the 50-year-old San Francisco Bay area transplant has been named the new development director at Community Works, a Medford nonprofit social service agency. His first task? To raise $300,000 in grant funds and private donations in this fiscal year, even as the agency faces troubling legal questions about supervision of youth in its care. But Roussell, whose credentials include 28 years as a YMCA director in California and Nevada, said the prospect of raising money amid conflict doesn't faze him. As long as the mission of the agency is sound, he says, the public will respond with generosity. "Most people who get full information will put the controversy in the context of the whole organization," he said Monday. "Community Works is an organization that touches thousands of people in different ways." Nearly three dozen charges that accuse two former youth shelter supervisors of sexually displaying and abusing clients are serious and troubling, Roussell said. But the Youth Diagnostic Shelter in Talent is only one program of the $5 million agency that tackles issues ranging from domestic violence and suicide to teen homelessness. "The mission of Community Works is something I'm impressed with," he said. One of Roussell's first goals after assuming the post Sept. 10 will be to share the full scope of the agency's efforts with Southern Oregon foundations and potential private donors, he said. "I don't think most people in this valley know about Community Works," he said. At the same time, Roussell hopes to encourage general giving to area nonprofits, perhaps through example. The Rogue Valley is flush with well-intentioned organizations seeking money, Roussell said. And the general perception is that there's not enough to go around. That's just not true, said Roussell, who bases his perception on recent conversations and experience, and his role as vice president of Netzel Associates Inc., a development consultant firm in San Jose. "We are not close to tapping out the financial market in this valley," he said. "The best financial directors not only raise money, they create a sense of community philanthropy." Roussell plans to create this "community philanthropy" by applying fund-raising principles well known in larger areas but less common here. Community Works must launch a targeted giving campaign, he said. And people who don't think of themselves as benefactors must be encouraged to do so. "People start giving and it becomes the thing to do," he said. "Here, it's not whether you should give, it's how much and to whom." Rogue Valley executives who've worked with Roussell praise his professionalism and his experience. Jon Mitchell, board president of United Way, said Roussell was key to managing controversy as the agency cut back the Scouts' funding over national policy on homosexuals. "His past history indicates that he's accustomed to conflict. That's what champions are about," Mitchell said. "They know that progress only comes out of conflict. Our community is lucky to have him, as is Community Works." Roussell will take Community Works' fund-raising efforts "to the next level," said Arnie Green, executive director. And the agency is paying for the expertise. Community Works agreed to match Roussell's $60,000 annual salary, with the stipulation that his fund-raising goal would accommodate the increase and any associated costs. The Scouts will be sorry to see Roussell go, said Ed Weiseth, executive director. "I think he did a terrific job of articulating in a sensitive way the Boy Scouts' position on a complex subject," he said. For Roussell, the opportunity to work at a larger agency in a more influential role was too good to pass up. It positions him exactly where he wanted to be when he moved to the Rogue Valley in 1999 with his wife, Lynn, 40, and two daughters, Halli, 5, and Maya, 3. The family always intended to come to Southern Oregon, but a sudden illness forced a sooner move. Among attractions was the slower pace of life the region offered. Roussell, who also has children ages 28, 20 and 16, said he already experienced the toll that 80-hour work weeks exact on families. Moving north and focusing on fund raising instead of running an agency was part of the plan. Ironically, many nonprofit directors don't practice their principles at home. "We in nonprofits are trying to make the world a better place, often for families, and we're the worst role models," Roussell said. "This is allowing me to be far more the parent I wanted to be with my kids." Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.