Philanthropy Policy

YMCA Shared Services, Inc. acknowledges that philanthropy, by definition the voluntary act of giving of one’s personal resources to benefit someone else, is what lies at the heart of the YMCA mission. For the member YMCAs of YMCA Shared Services, Inc. the purchase of goods and services is an administration staff function, and in keeping with our core values and the principles of stewardship, it is the staff’s responsibility to seek the best combination of service, quality, price and value. In that business relationship, driven by service, quality, price and value, there is no room for true philanthropy. When gifts are sought and/or made in the context of that relationship, they are too often perceived by the donor and the recipient as just another cost of doing business.

Conversely, the solicitation of gifts in a fund-raising campaign, capital or annual campaign, is a voluntary function. Gifts to the member YMCAs of YMCA Shared Services, Inc. should be made freely and cooperatively with the people making the request, in support of the specific purposes of the campaign.

Member YMCAs regularly solicit both Suppliers and non-Suppliers alike. However, those solicitations are made in a context separate, and without regard to, any current or potential YMCA business relationship; a context in which one business leader asks another to make a gift based on the value the YMCA brings to the community in which they, their families, their employees and their customers live.

YMCA Shared Services, Inc. and our associated vendor relationships are in no way connected, impacted and/or involved in a vendor’s philanthropy towards a member YMCA and/or a member YMCA’s solicitation from vendors & non-vendors alike. YMCA Shared Services, Inc. will not solicit or accept gifts to our organization directly.

In the end, YMCA Shared Services, Inc.’s business practices are better served and our mission is better met when voluntary contributions based upon a potential donor’s investment in the community is conducted separately between vendors & our member YMCAs, as opposed to the possibility of gaining, or maintaining, a vendor relationship through this organization.