Mentsch – I’m not trying to convince you to hold my opinion. I’m also on the fence about it myself, as I said “might”.
I’m not defending orgs like you mentioned. The ones I worked on had haskamos and participation from some local Rabonim, were indeed elaborate and costly but not any more so than a top of the line fundraising dinner that is held in a banquet hall or shul hall like so many are, and most importantly I saw (and was responsible for budgeting) how the money raised was used and how it impacted Jewish life and Torah learning for individuals whose lives were changed.
I’ve never worked for an organization that outsourced fundraising to commissioned promoters.
As an aside, as to “gluttonous” fundraisers, Where I lived when working on these events, there is no charitable receipt for the portion of the event that constitutes a “value advantage” for the participant. This means that an event that charges $200 but costs $120 per person for food, drink, golf, fishing boat, etc. will generate an $80 charitable receipt.
Where I work and raise funds now, there is a significant proportion of the major givers who expect a certain level of recognition and stewardship that includes high end events once or twice a year. (And by high end I mean expensive but not ridiculous) The organization I work for is not in a position to jeopardize these gifts, but on the other hand we don’t use general funds to pay for them either. Either there is separate corporate sponsorship of the event, or the participants pay a couvert for the “value advantage” described above.
This seems to me to be appropriate.