A Swing and a Miss

I used to work in the community relations office for a Texas public school district. One of our responsibilities included planning an annual gala for the district education foundation. Because this was the foundation's primary fundraising event, we understood that hosting the gala outside of the district wouldn't play well with the constituents. Apparently, that's a foreign concept for the Washington Nationals.

The Washington Post reported last week that the DC Council was very upset to learn that the Nationals plan to host a major charity event in Prince George's County instead of the District. Considering that the District supported a new $611 million stadium, the Council is understandably upset. Never mind that the District collected $36 million dollars in taxes last year, according to the Post, to help repay the money borrowed for the stadium.

Stan Kasten, president of the Nationals, says PG County was chosen because the hotel was free and that would mean more money for the Dream Foundation, the Nats' charitable arm. He further explained that the foundation is saving $250,000 in hotel charges that can be passed on to charities benefiting DC children.

I can't fault the Nats for wanting to take advantage of a great offer like that. But I do hold them accountable for failing to understand and communicate with their audiences. They could have avoided the bad press and backlash if they had explained their plans directly to the Council. Instead, council members learned about the decision to host the event in PG County through the grapevine.

Source:
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/06/AR2007110602296.html?hpid=topnews