Hello Robert, David, Nolan, Brooke and Joshua…..thank for your ‘boiler plate’ letter to a donor and Life Member such as myself. Unfortunately, this is something of a personal insult to me as it misses the mark, and otherwise is full of ‘legalese’ for which I am totally familiar as a person who has had some knowledge, involvement, and been a major donor, to many non-profit and not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organizations both in the state of California and elsewhere over the many years of my life.
Unfortunately, it ‘dances around’ the concerns I have addressed and does nothing to ease the concerns of support for the TOM House based on certain actions that have allegedly been taken already. To Wit; failing to make monthly payments there to, the firing of support staff, and the discontinuance of the Artist’s in Residence Programs, all which I am led to believe have taken place.
The obligation, to the house, is central to my concerns, as an integral part of the Foundation’s historical financial support, over these many years, as something of a precedence. Without the House, where TOM lived, as a focal point, the Foundation is just giving care to the ephemera which TOM has left behind.
The main concern of my letter, in the outset, was to find out the Foundation’s desire, or lack thereof, to support the House as a rallying place for those who donate or become members of the Foundation from a modest financial level and/or even some to lofty donations to become Life Members and beyond. Most Life Members do not stop there, but continue with periodic donations to the Foundation thereafter. There were certain expectations when such individuals pledged their donations to the Foundation over a very long period of time.
You have conveniently avoided (or indeed sidestepped) answering these concerns in about the seventh of eighth paragraph of your letter which starts out…. “There are also matters we cannot discuss in this letter…..” So then, as a result, any reasonable individual, such as myself, would query as to when those ‘matters’ will be made public? This, since it would seem anyway, there is an implied obligation to donors who have been promised a benefit of donor-ship (over many years as precedent) to know the ‘agenda’ of the Foundation, with regard to the ‘fate’ of the TOM House, which they are, or were, funding with the expectation of a benefit that has led some to donate and others, like myself, to accept as an added bonus.
You have suggested that you indeed have a desire to begin a dialogue with me, and with other donor’s, who I may be privy to, but if you are not candid with the ultimate goal of the Foundation toward support to the very ‘concrete’ symbol of TOM’s existence in the United States (the TOM House) I do not know the fruit of any such interchange.
When you are ready to present to me some viable reasons that you have allegedly taken these steps and allegedly with seemingly no prior notification to anyone, not the least of which are the main principals effected by the actions, I am at a loss to influence positively any of my friends and others who have pledged substantial financial allegiance to the Tom Of Finland Foundation, based on what some might consider to be fraudulent offerings or empty promises based on your actions, regardless of the clandestine reasons for them whatsoever. This based on the understanding, for many years, that the TOM House was indeed part and parcel of the Tom Of Finland Foundation giving the impression, to the general public and donors, that they were indeed one in the same.
I hope I am wrong, and that the Board will take action to correct what appears to be a ‘hostile takeover’ of the very trust that many have supported financially with the expectation that the TOM House will continue to be a ‘large’ part of the Legacy to Tom Of Finland as part of the reason for their donations. I also have concerns about the effect this might have on TOM’a international gallery reputation which has been a source of exposure and revenue to the Foundation for many years.
When you are ready to answer my questions, and concerns, I am open to continuing my own support to the Foundation, and the encouragement of others who might happen to be in my sphere of influence.
Respectfully submitted, A Life Member.
Newport Beach
United States