Thousands of people hoping our councillors would take a leap of faith and support The Hundertvasser Art Centre were disappointed this week.
I heard the words 'small-minded' and lack of vision bandied around. I also saw people asking 'what can I do', 'can we crowd source it', 'could we use the snowball effect' and I realised - what we asked the councillors to do was take a leap of faith on our behalf. To believe that somehow this crazy building will help to bring a vitality to Whangarei, bring people to Whangarei and make the naysayers look like histories salutory lessons.
But, beneath all this - I had not taken a leap of faith. I had written to my councillor, I had filled in the online petition but I had not written to other councillors. I had not written to the papers, I hadn't walked in the streets and most of all I had not put my money where my mouth is. I had looked at the donation page and thought 'if looks like my contribution will make a difference I will give then'. What if I donate and it doesn't happen? - what then? Maybe I'll just wait and see.
It turns out the cost to the ratepayer is $60.70 each. I wouldn't flinch to pay that money for it. I wouldn't even flinch to pay $60.70 to buy the 2015 Hundertvasser calendar (which is about what it costs). I'd rather the Art Centre for my money though!
So why not donate, I thought, why not give my $60.70 to the cause now? Why not take a leap of faith and believe that if I do then I can convince 10 of my friends to and if I can do that maybe I can convince the other 1463 people who 'LIKE' the Hundertvasser page to do the same. And that if that happened maybe we can convince media in New Zealand and around the world to cover the story and get turn that snowball into an avalanche.
If the 1463 facebook page 'likers' donated $60.70 each and convinced 10 of their friends to so the same it would be a million dollars. At that point surely we could dare to believe that we could succeed. Surely we could believe that the leap by the many would be enough to help those working with largely donors over the line? They have raised $5 million so far.
There is a proverb that I have heard in the fundraising world "He who gives early gives twice". It's easy to get someone to chip in to finish funding but hard to get someone to take the leap and give when the goal may not be reached. What do I lose by taking the leap of faith and putting in my $60.70 now? Not more than I have spent on things I didn't really want. Not more than I have wasted buying upsized food I wasn't hungry for. Not even more than I have blown this year by missing the early payment deadline on my power.
What do I gain? The chance that maybe it will lead to something amazing. And the knowledge that I am a better person for having done it and encouraged others to.
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