Once Alice Gloster Green Burnette became recognized as a prolific U.S. fundraiser, her peers and friends often asked her how she convinced philanthropists and heads of major corporations – her primary targets – to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to projects she represented or supported. Her response was simple and succinct.   “I only ask two questions,” she’d say. “Do you have a lot of money?  If they say ‘yes’, I say, “may I have some?”

On Saturday, July 20,2024, my lifelong friend, Alice Burnette, will receive (posthumously) the George P. Phenix (High School) Alumni Association Outstanding Alumni Award, in Hampton, Va. It is given to graduates who “excelled beyond expectations to achieve either local, state, national or international recognition.” Alice, valedictorian of Phenix’ Class of 1960, received numerous other notable awards during her 42-year career, including the prestigious Henry A. Russon Medal for her “lifetime achievements in ethical fundraising in our country.”

After graduating from Wheaton College (Norton, Mass.) in 1964, Alice began her career as an intern in development at Smith College (Northampton, Mass.). In 1971, she joined Dr. Hugh Gloster, then president of Morehouse College as Director of Development and helped plan its first fundraising campaign that exceeded $20 million. She also helped plan and secure initial funding for the fully accredited Morehouse School of Medicine. Subsequent job opportunities brought her greater challenges and remarkable achievements:

  • In 1977, she was appointed Director of Development at Howard University (Washington, D.C.) where she spearheaded a $100 million fundraising campaign and was granted a leave of absence from Howard to organize an Office of Private Sector Development for the U.S. Peace Corps. She served as the office’s first director.
  • In 1988, she accepted an appointment at the Washington, D.C.-based Smithsonian Institution – the world’s largest museum organization – as Deputy Assistant Secretary for External Affairs. Later, she was appointed Advancement Secretary for Institutional Advancement and designed and managed the $200 million campaign that built the National Museum of the American Indian.
  • After retiring from the Smithsonian, she was the Principal of Advancement Solutions, Inc., a fund-raising consulting firm and served as counsel to the Plan for Action Presidential Commission that led to the creation of the National Museum of African American History, which opened in 2016.

Alice is the author of The Privilege to Ask, a national research and leadership development handbook designed to increase the number of African American fundraising professionals and to help them to do a better job for the institutions and organizations they serve. It’s also a more substantive response to the question posed to her in the first paragraph. The handbook is an in-depth examination of the diverse factors that influence fundraising and charitable giving in and for the African American community. She also co-authored “Achieving Excellence in Fundraising,” which set the standards for fund raising professionals. She has impacted students’ interscholastic activities in past, current and future generations through her leadership efforts in fundraising.  Burnette’s impact on me had nothing to do with fundraising, but it was life changing.

Though we lived less than a mile away from each other in a racially divided small southern town, our worlds were miles apart. Alice, her sister, Evelyn, and parents, lived on the east side of the Hampton Bridge, which led to the Glosters’ home on the pristine Hampton Institute campus (now Hampton University); I, my parents, four brothers and two sisters, lived on the west side of the bridge, which led to downtown Hampton, where many low-income Black families resided. Alice’s father was the Dean of Faculty at Hampton; her mother was a Hampton sociology professor. My father, Samuel, owned and operated a café, which catered mostly to low-income Blacks; my mother, Virginia, raised seven children and between babies, worked as a cook in the café. Neither of my parents finished elementary school. None of my siblings finished high school.

Two years before we met, the family accompanied Dr. Gloster to Hiroshima, Japan, where he spent two years as a Fulbright Professor of English. Occasionally, Alice and her younger sister, wore kimonos to our class and shared their experiences of going to school and living in a Japanese community. Alice and I were assigned to the same home room, many of the same classes and sat next to each other throughout our junior high and high school years. When our teachers returned quizzes or test results, Alice always had As.  I had a few As, but mostly Bs. She’d always say, ‘You can do better.” By eighth grade, I was.

Occasionally, I’d stop by a bakery on my walking route to school to pick up three freshly baked donuts. They were still warm when I got to school. I always shared at least one of them with Alice. She loved them and wanted to pay me, but I wouldn’t let her. It was my way of paying her back for the frequent Sunday dinners that she invited me to share with her family. Sometimes, she’d invite one or more of my friends. I played varsity basketball and tennis in high school.  Away games and practice often cut into my study time. When my grades slipped, Alice was still there to say, ‘You can do better.” She was like a big sister, always trying to keep me on the best road and thinking of a better future.

Because of Alice, instead of joining the Armed Services as two of my older brothers had done while still in high school, I attended Hampton University, earned a bachelor’s degree and entered the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. We kept in touch, as we struggled through divorces during rough spells, and smiled thankfully, through good spells.   I’m delighted that one of my best friends in life, Alice Gloster Green Burnette, who died January 21, 2006, is being honored with the George P. Phenix Alumni Award.