A Gift Must Be Received

The claim Organisations that run on goodwill cannot command commitment, so they show plainly what every organisation depends on: authority granted by the people led, gifts that someone has to know how to receive, and work done for people who will never say thank you. The evidence A health foundation that teaches clinicians to accept gratitude rather than ask for money, and a sporting body governed by unpaid directors, manage openly what salaried organisations hide behind the payroll. The implication Salaried organisations would do well to lead staff as volunteers who could leave, and to recruit boards that build as well as watch.Of the $16.8 million the NORTH Foundation raised for the public hospitals of northern Sydney in 2024–25, $10.7 million came from bequests (NORTH Foundation 2025, 10–11), the highest bequest income in the foundation’s history (NORTH Foundation 2025, 4). Almost two-thirds of the year’s money was therefore given by people who would never see what it bought, could…

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