Reflections on Generosity for Capital Campaigns – Détails, épisodes et analyse

"...Therefore one should not cease from planting. Rather, just as he found, one should still continue to plant even though he is old..."

This week, I’m a story from Midrash Tanchuma Kedoshim 8:1, written sometime between 500 to 800 AD and published in 1885.

Reflection question:

• How will you plant seeds for fund development programs, like legacy giving, that take longer to see the benefits?

Reflection on quote:

Recently, I have been assisting my clients with starting legacy programs; that is, encouraging long-term donors to give through their will and bequest.  Some of these organizations have donor bases of older donors who have already started to think about giving a gift upon their death.  Other organizations don’t have many older donors.  So a question might come up, why waste precious time now to create a program without an immediate impact?

Yes, starting a legacy program may seem like a long-term endeavor with uncertain immediate rewards. However, the wisdom from this story underscores that we must begin planting the seeds of a legacy program now. By encouraging donors to consider legacy gifts, we are creating a sustainable future for ourselves. While the benefits may not be realized for years, the impact can be profound.  
Yet, as this story also alludes to, there may be a more immediate blessing to donors who wish to consider their legacy in the future.  By considering their long-term impact, donors can find deep satisfaction in knowing that their values and passions will live on. The act of planning a legacy can be a transformative experience. It allows donors to reflect on their lives, identify why our organization is one of their most cherished causes, and consider their lasting mark in their community. This process can bring a sense of peace and purpose, knowing that their generosity will be a testament to the power of giving in their lives.

This work has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

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"...In the same way, as you are unable to take care of all of your fellow people, treated as the luck of the draw when the time and circumstance brings some into closer contact with you than others."

 This week, I’m reading a quote from De Doctrina Christiana by Augustine, published in 397 AD.

Reflection questions:

• Is there an area of your work where you need to step back and apply this framework: accepting our limits, focusing on what we can do, and releasing that which we can’t do or whom we can’t help?

• Related, what do you need to let go of and find freedom in that release?

Reflection on the quote:

Have you ever been overwhelmed by the sheer need of our work, and yet feel a bit crushed by limits we face in our work?  While we often feel like our challenges are new, that we face problems no one else has ever encountered. But history, as they say, rhymes. The human condition, with all its complexities and contradictions, remains constant. The needs have overwhelmed those who care for over a thousand years. 

When we feel that weight of the world on our shoulders, the overwhelming sense of need, the constant pull to do more, to be more, this quote gives us some practical wisdom. We first accept that our ability to help is constrained by our circumstances. We can’t do everything. We can’t solve every problem, heal every wound, or right every wrong.  Second, we identify what we have, especially our time, resources, and capacity.  Third, we prioritize that which we can do. We can cause change in our own local communities, focusing our efforts on those within our reach.  Finally, there is freedom in seeing that sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw for whom we can help or for what we can do. 

This work has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

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“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”  JK Rowling

This week, I’m reading various quotes to reflect on how generosity covers our failures.

Reflection question:

Are we letting failure harden or shame us?  Or, are we letting generosity cover our failures with the desire to keep trying?   

Reflection on Quotes:

Last week, I talked about failure and how to view failure. All this week, I’ve been thinking about how donors view our failures. Although we can Google a bunch of quotes about people not wanting others to be successful or root for our failures, that is not how donors view failures in our nonprofit work.  Instead, because donors are investing in our work, they are cheering us on to move passed our failures.

When donors see that we are seeking to succeed in our work, they will see failures as a learning process to better serve our missions in the future.  What we do next matters. It’s easy to be ashamed or to let the failure harden us into never wanting to make a mistake again.  Especially when we respect the sacrificial giving leads some donors to give to our organizations.  

However, our donors have not called us to live cautiously, to feed half a child or protect half the land or play half the music.  No, their gifts cover our failures with a desire for us to keep trying, or as Brené Brown states, to keep daring greatly.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

"...All that happens, happens right: you will find it so if you observe narrowly..."

This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD.

Reflection questions:

• When you have failed in your work recently, how are observing narrowly for the right things that came out of it?

• Are you seeking perfection or goodness in your fundraising activities?

Reflection on the quote:

In working with over 100 clients, it’s not surprising that I’m well-acquainted with failure as well. A donor event that no one shows up to. An email campaign that raises zero dollars. A year-end direct mail campaign that goes out in January. A fundraising event where no one gives.  As much as I want every campaign, event, fundraising activity to be successful, that’s not real life.  So how do we grapple with that. This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD.

All that happens, happens right.  Notice that Aurelius did nt say, all that happens, happens perfectly.  Or, successfully.  But, he says “right if you observe narrowly.” We can get stuck in embarrassment or paralysis.  We can fear that donors will stop giving to us because of our failure. Instead, a failure can help us have more honest interactions with donors. For instance, ask the donor help us understand the best way to give you the opportunity to donate.  Or, a failure can lead to the right conversations with the right donors.  For example, a smaller-than-hoped-for event can open up a more in-depth conversation that wouldn’t have been possible if the event was larger. Failures can lead to growth when we have the right attitude, which is the second half of the quote.  Let your aim be goodness in every action.  We don’t fail in fundraising because we want to fail.  But we will fail because failure is a part of life. So, we don’t aim for perfection or status.  We aim for goodness.  Goodness for the cause that we serve. And, remember, donors don’t give to us. They give to the cause through us.

This work has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

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..."And then with a cry from his soul despairing,He bowed him down to the earth and wept.But a voice cried aloud from the driving rain;“Arise, old man, and plant again!”

This week, I’m reading a poem, Disappointed, written by Paul Laurence Dunbar, published in 1913.

Reflection question:

• Is there an area of your work where you have been disappointment and you need to stop and weep before moving forward?

Reflection on the quote:

This week, something sad happened with a nonprofit in my community. Often, I focus on the positive side of generosity.  Yet, with generosity, sometimes there is a pain.  It’s a pain that comes from striving for good and giving generously and yet seeing our work swept away. 

When we face times of disappointment, it is easy to respond in two ways.  To give up and walk away from our work. We may walk away physically, leaving our job or volunteer position.  Or, we walk away emotionally, no longer truly engaged in our work.  The other way we can respond is to push through and act as though the disappointment didn’t happen.  Unfortunately, disappointments build up and we can’t keep pushing without burning out.  This poem gives a third way.  Acknowledge the disappointment and pain.  And then allow your soul to despair and weep.  But, then have hope and arise again to your work.

This work has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

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"...Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by the covering,
Cast them away as ugly, or heavy, or hard.
Remove the covering and you will find beneath it a living splendor,
Woven of love, by wisdom, with power..."

This week, I’m reading a poem written by Greville MacDonald to his father George MacDonald in 1930.

Reflection question:

When will you take time to pause, wait, and look deeper to glimpse joy, beauty, and living splendor?

Reflection on quote:

In our work, it is easy to become overcome by the immediate needs we face.  Unlike for-profit organizations, our goal is to put ourselves out of business by tackling challenges outlined in our mission and vision.  Because of this, the immediate needs can lead to burnout and stress.  But, if we pause, we can glimpse something else.

Yes, our days are often full of trial, sorrow or duty. Yet, though our work we bring life, meaning, and purpose.  And, within that, we can glimpse joy, beauty, and living splendor. As MacDonald writes, could we but see.  That seeing takes time.  Time for us to pause and waiting and look deeper beneath the covering and the shadows.

This work has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

"...To think and to will without doing, when there is opportunity, is like a flame enclosed in a vessel and goes out; also like seed cast upon the sand, which fails to grow, and so perishes with its power of germination. But to think and will and from that to do is like a flame that gives heat and light all around, or like a seed in the ground that grows up into a tree or flower and continues to live..."

This week, I’m reading a quote that sums up Johnny Appleseed’s beliefs from Heaven and Hell by Emmanuel Swedenborg, published in 1758.

Reflection questions:

• How many of your fundraising goals are outcome goals and how many are process goals?

• How would your conversations with donors be different if you focused on process goals?

Reflection on quote:

Earlier this week, I read an article about goals and whether to envision the process to reach the outcome or the outcome. The article referenced the life and work of John Chapman; otherwise known as Johnny Appleseed.  Like many, I pictured Johnny Appleseed as wandering aimlessly around the countryside, randomly sprinkling seeds that grew into trees and, against all odds, orchards.  But that wasn’t the case at all.  Instead, Johnny Appleseed, following his religious beliefs, knew the outcome he wanted; more apple trees for cider as an alternative to unsafe drinking water but then planned the process in which he met his goal.  This came directly from his belief that our goals can’t be reached unless we act concretely upon them. 

As I read this quote and the article, I thought of our fundraising goals and our conversations with donors.  We can set goals based on the outcome; that is, x number of dollars raised.  Or, we can set goals based on the process of reaching the outcome; that is, x number of phone calls and meetings or x number of opportunities presented for donors to give.  As the article and quote alluded to, we are more likely to reach the outcome goal if we envision the process to reach the outcome and create goals around that process.  More importantly, by creating process goals, when we meet with donors, the conversation is undergirded less by the outcome and instead on the process of giving donors an opportunity to be generous.

This quote has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

"...The first and the simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind is curiosity..."

This week, I’m reading a quote from On the Sublime and Beautiful by Edmund Burke, published in 1756.

Reflection questions:

• What is your personality like:  do you prefer the new and novel or the familiar and dependable?

• What do you think your donor base needs right now?  And, based on what you know about your personality, are you willing to step outside your comfort zone to adapt to your donors’ needs? 

Reflection on Quote:

In my work reviewing materials from fund development professionals, I often see two ends of the spectrum.  Either the work is completely new - every story, every word, every way to invite the donor to join in the mission is new.  On the other end the work is recycled year after year - the same story, the same words, the same call to action.  Honestly, there are times where either one of those is appropriate - the new and the novel or the recycled and the dependable. 

We are, our donors are, naturally curious.  We want to know the new, novel information, novel stories about the work we are supporting.  For this reason, we start with blank screens to write fundraising letters, we brainstorm new events, and we gather new stories from our constituents. Yet, as Burke states, curiosity and novelty doesn’t bind us or our donors to a mission.  For that reason, we also need to remind ourselves and our donors of the familiar stories.  This is why the same fundraising event can be hosted for decades and still be raising more funds each year.  It’s why the same fundraising letter can continue to be successful.  And, it’s why we can tell and retell our origin stories so effectively. It’s a balance between the novel and the dependable.  As professionals, we have to be adaptable to our donors between those two ends of the spectrum - blending curiosity with the familiar.

This work has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

"...Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity..."

This week, I am reading quotes from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu from his various works.

Reflection questions:

• Are you watering your fundraising appeals with worry and desperation?  Or, are you watering them with kindness and optimism?

• During a busy fundraising season, how are you embracing the saying, “do your work, and then step back. The only path to serenity”?

Reflection on Quote:

In the United States, we have trained our donors to give between November and December, which means that a prepared fund development professional has already finished their year end letter.  Or maybe not.  Yes, when we enter a busy season of fundraising, it can be very stressful and that stress can leak out into the appeals we send.

How we write our appeals to donors does affect the outcome.  We can approach the writing with worry, fear, desperation.  And, our appeals will reflect that fear and worry.  And, our donors will react - some by giving out of fear, but others will choose not to give at all.  Or, we can approach the writing with confidence, kindness, optimism, and solutions.  And, our appeals will reflect that kindness and optimism.  These appeals attract donors because they give donors a greater vision of what they can accomplish by joining with the mission and constituents we serve.

This work has entered the public domain.

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

"...Consistent with social learning theory, individuals tend to carry beliefs about money and money skills learned in childhood into their adult lives..."

This week, I’m reading selected quotes from Money Beliefs and Financial Behaviors by Bradley Klontz, Sonya Britt, and Jennifer Mentzer, published in 2011.

Reflection Questions:

• Have you spent time thinking about your childhood and the beliefs around money you were raised with?

• Which money script have you been operating in and how might you break those patterns?

Reflection on Quote:

Earlier this week, I was talking with a person with new fund development responsibilities.  She talked about her fears with asking for money.  Like almost everyone I’ve met in the field, her fears were directly related to her childhood.  It’s a reminder that often we have to unpack our own beliefs around money before we can discuss generosity with our donors.

As I read this research, I immediately recognized correlations to fundraising.  Those with money avoidance scripts can struggle to ask for donations. Those with money worship scripts tend to engage in magical thinking around one major donation.  Those with money status scripts can find crossing wealth classes intimidating when building a relationship with a more wealthy donor.  Those with money vigilance scripts may find fundraising work too all-consuming in their lives.  And, there are more correlations that you may have immediately thought of as well.  The good news is that, in my experience, once a fund development professional recognizes their own money scripts, they are able to move past them and develop new patterns in discussing generosity.

Copyright: Klontz, B., Britt, S. L., Mentzer, J., & Klontz, T. (2011). Money Beliefs and Financial Behaviors: Development of the Klontz Money Script Inventory. Journal of Financial Therapy, 2 (1)

What do you think?

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop