Remembering Kay Partney Lautman
Tomorrow, Lautman Maska Neill & Company, the fundraising firm founded by Kay Lautman will hold its 20th Anniversary reception.
Of course what’s noteworthy, far beyond the laudable two decade anniversary of a good agency is the death on Monday of its Founder – Kay Partney Lautman at age 74.
You can read all about the professional achievements and the admiration of colleagues of this remarkable woman in yesterday’s online issue of Fundraising Success and on her company’s website. And I urge you to do so.
But all the plaques, certificates, industry awards and tributes clutter up the essence of what Kay did for all of us in this trade and the real legacy she leaves.
All women in fundraising — and all fundraising males willing to admit our profession would be far less than half as decent and skilled without women — owe Kay big-time. She helped smash the glass ceiling. In fact, she took a sledge hammer to it.
In the mid-60s when I entered the business, there was a fundraising agency called the Oram Group. Harold Oram, its owner, followed a unique business model for those days. He hired bright young women, moved them physically into his clients’ offices to manage the account, and called them ‘Oram Girls’.
Kay was an ‘Oram Girl. And along with Sanky Perlowin made it damn clear that male domination in fundraising was doomed. Within a few years of each other they established their own agencies — Sanky Perlowin & Associates in 1977 (now Sanky Inc.) and Lautman & Associates (now Lautman, Maska Neill & Company) a few years later, following Kay’s stint has head of the Oram Group.
Kay had values and scruples bundled around a caring heart. Every consultant working today would do well to emulate these traits.
She pursued what she thought right, honest and best for her clients with a vengeance. Clients didn’t always appreciate her candor, but most are alive and thriving today because she delivered straight talk and sound advice — always with their long-term interest, not short term “make nice” advice in mind.
In fact, many of the museums that line the Mall in Washington, DC – the United States Holocaust Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial — stand as a living legacy to her good, tough advice. As my long-time colleague Jennie Thompson charmingly noted today, “If it weren’t for Kay the Mall would still be mostly grass and woodland.”
Kay also gave back to our profession in ways most will never know. Through her books and personal attention and training she helped raise up a generation of talented fundraisers. Her own agency is today is beautifully managed by a new generation of women leaders.
In short, Kay was one hell of great human being. A ground-breaker and sometimes a ball-breaker and always a breaker of conventional, go-along-to-get-along molds.
As I called around our community today to gather reminiscences and insights from colleagues, I especially noted the tribute from fellow copywriter Bob Levy: “I admired her gutsiness. She may have seemed a tough bird, but her copy revealed her empathy and warm heart.”
Well done, Kay. Thank you.
Roger
11 responses to “Remembering Kay Partney Lautman”
Behavioral Science Q & A
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Early on in my career, I heard Kay speak at fundraising conferences and workshops. Her passion for her work and the difference she made were an inspiration. She was a leader … someone to admire and respect … and so damn talented. Rest in peace, Kay. You truly were a “Dear Friend,”.
Roger, thank you for this incredibly touching tribute to Kay. You knew her well and you completely captured her spirit, and her contributions to fundraising, and the larger world. And I love that you commend her for being both a ground-breaker and a ball-breaker. It’s so true – and she would absolutely LOVE that you said that! Thank you so much. Tiffany and I deeply appreciate what you wrote.
What a perfect tribute to an incredible woman. It has been wonderful remembering all of the lives she changed, organizations she transformed, and the fact that the world is much better from her presence in it. You also perfectly capture the fact that she did it all with grit and joy. Every time we are faced with a challenge, “What would Kay do” generally results in the right answer.
Roger
Really lovely tribute to Kay. Thank you.
Jeanne
Thank you Roger for a fabulous post and beautiful tribute to a trailblazer. Kay would probably have had a good laugh reading this as she nodded her head in agreement! She was a gift to this industry and left us all with a tremendous legacy.
Thank you Roger for a kind tribute to Kay and the Oram Girls.
My fondest set of memories are of Kay and her agency being the force at Holocaust Museum; aggressively building their membership program. The construction of that building on 14th Street in Washington is testament to her tenacity and creativity.
She was a wonderful person and will be very much missed.
Dennis
My sister, Kay, will always be my “bigger than life” sister. I remember her raising money when she worked at the World Wildlife Fund” for the “Atwater Prairie Chicken” …..
I thought, who cares about a chicken? Well, Kay did.
Thank you all for your good words and loving Kay.
Pam Lautman
Roger,
Your wonderful words are a fitting tribute to a woman I and many others considered an icon in the fundraisng field. Well done!.
Thank you.
Seth
A great lady. I well remember talking her into testing the BRE little message [ Your stamp will save the charity money } She was doubtful but really gracious when her results matched Canadian and UK results. Its counter productive. George Smith,Kay. Are we a dying breed us direct mail people? Stay well Roger!
Great tribute words, Roger, especially the parts about how Kay — and Harold Oram — contributed so much to bringing women into the fundraising profession and creating the space to pursue and succeed in a career in this field. I too was an “Oram girl” in the later sixties, and that’s how I got my start in fundraising. Kay was in a higher galaxy than mine, but nonetheless, my stint at the Oram office in NYC started me on a lifelong career that included working in his West Coast office in San Francisco for many years. I am indebted to that firm and to women leaders like Kay for helping to create a woman-friendly profession that has brought so many rewards over the years (including getting to work with you, Roger, for so many years while I was at the Sierra Club!). RIP Kay, and thank you for your ever-present eloquence, Roger.
Being a family friend, I had no idea what a high-powered individual she was in her career life. I found her and her husband, Bob, to be generous, creative, interesting, talented people. She was so inclusive, always inviting me or others to join them at family get togethers and making you feel truly welcomed. The laughter and jokes that went on around that table will be forever missed. My life is richer because of her and I will always remember her in my heart.
Love to the family.
Linda