I was working with a client to outline their capital campaign priorities when the topic of deferred maintenance came up.

“I’m not sure we should include it,” the person said. “It doesn’t feel very fundable. I mean … who wants to repaint a boiler room?”

I understood the hesitation, but I couldn’t help sharing a story – one that still makes me emotional every time.

My dad spent 42 years as the plant engineer at our hometown hospital. He knew every inch of that building. It was his second home. To him, the boilers, walls and grounds weren’t just systems and structures, they were an integral part of caring for people well.

When we were teenagers, my brother and I got our first jobs thanks to him: mowing hospital lawns and painting yellow parking lines. At the time, it didn’t feel glamorous. But to my dad, it mattered. All of it mattered.

In 2010, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. For treatment, he stayed at the Hope Lodge in Iowa City, four hours from home. He was there four days a week, for 12 weeks. Treatment only took about an hour each day, so he had a lot of time on his hands.

He didn’t sit still for long.

He found the maintenance team and, before long, was volunteering. Changing light bulbs, painting rooms, sharpening mower blades, fixing whatever he could. That was who he was. Caring for a place was his way of caring for people.

When my dad passed away in 2014, my mom made a gift to the Hope Lodge in his memory. She had one condition: The funds would be used for maintaining the building.

At first, the development officer was puzzled. But when my mom explained, it made perfect sense. The maintenance crew was thrilled and honored.

For some donors, there is nothing more meaningful than making sure a place is well maintained with excellence, consistency and pride. So when you’re developing a campaign budget, don’t leave out the so-called “unfundable” needs.

This is the power of philanthropy: the transformative potential to connect an organization’s greatest needs with their donors’ deepest passions.

What seems ordinary or overlooked to one person may hold special meaning and significance to another. Instead of assuming what won’t resonate, take time to share the need in earnest. If it matters, there may be someone for whom it will matter deeply.

Someone like my dad, who understands the value of a boiler room, and someone like my mom, who knows how best to honor a loved one.

Thank you, Mom! And miss you, Dad!