woman expressing values

Your Unique Coping Strategies?

woman expressing valuesThese are the best of times. These are the worst of times.

However you see the present, rest assured others see it the opposite.

How do you cope? How do you help others cope? How are you adapting, personally and professionally, to the times in which we live?

It turns out the way you cope, particularly during times of stress, has a lot to do with your unique personality traits.

During such times, it pays to be self-aware. It can help you understand why you may be feeling particularly panicky. Or inexplicably calm and at peace. ANd it can help you lean in to what makes you feel creative, purposeful, and even joyful.

Through self discovery, you can live your life in the best way possible.

Want to make a contribution that feels authentic, productive and true to you?  Want to make this a year where you help others do the same, be they your family, friends, co-workers, program participants and beneficiaries, volunteers or donors?

Then how about taking a bit of focused time to unearth some important truths about the most interesting person on earth — YOU!

Now is a terrific time for some good old-fashioned introspection.

Turn off the news, stop scrolling through social media, and instead get in touch with, and appreciate, what you bring to the table.

How to Learn About the Most Interesting Person on Earth

I’ve got four fun things for you to try!

One is a values exercise. The others can be grouped under the mantle of “personality tests.”

First, let’s stipulate values vary and they’re all legitimate. Also, there’s  no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ personality. These exercises and assessments I’m sharing today are my favorites for the workplace (and beyond) as they’ve been rigorously tested, are grounded in research and have been shown to be fair and consistent across populations.  Plus, they’re fun to take.

Are you game?

Even if you don’t love doing exercises and taking quizzes as much as I do, you may find one or more of these interesting. None of them take a lot of your time. And it’s even more fun if you do it together (with friends, family, co-workers); then compare and discuss results!

Remember: Everyone brings their own gifts to the situation at hand. 

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I am grateful

How to Cultivate Awe, Gratitude, Altruism and Meaning to Significantly Boost Nonprofit Fundraising

I am grateful

Philanthropy is about reciprocal awe, gratitude, altruism and purpose.

I’m a huge fan of the Greater Good Science Center at U.C. Berkeley, and often apply their research to nonprofit fundraising and marketing.  This particular article really strikes me today, because it talks about times when we feel isolated from others: How to Find Your Purpose in Life.

Over my 30 years of practice as an in-house development professional, I’ve encountered a lot of people feeling isolated. It’s one of the reasons they reach out to social benefit organizations, because they crave community and purpose. Depending on what’s going on in the broader world around us, this feeling can be more or less at the forefront of people’s experience. When this feeling creeps in, this is a time for you to rededicate yourself to your fundamental role as a philanthropy facilitator. Or, as my mentor (and who some call the “father of fundraising)” Hank Rosso said: your role in “the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving.”

Here’s what it boils down to:

You serve your donors every bit as much as they serve your organization’s mission.

Please allow that to sink in.

You have a mission and purpose. Donors can help you get there.

Your donors are looking for purpose. You can help them find it.

It’s a symbiotic relationship.  And you have a role in fostering that relationship.  What is that role?

Your job is to facilitate your donor’s philanthropic journey. Their journey to discover their purpose.

So what’s this really all about?

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Olympic flag

Lift Up Your Nonprofit Donors with Their Olympic Moment

Olympic flag

“Give me one moment in time.

When I’m more than I thought could be.

When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away.

And the answers are all up to me.”

Ah, the lyrics remembered from a Whitney Houston song sung at the 1988 Olympics Opening Ceremonies.  The Olympic torch. The parade of nations. The stories, stories and stories.

Chills run down my spine.  The hairs stand straight on my neck.  A lump comes to my throat.

Cheesy, I know.  But it gets to me.

We all yearn for that one moment where we step outside our daily, mundane lives and exceed our wildest expectations.

When we’re bigger than ourselves.

We can’t all be gold medal athletes, but we can all be gold medal philanthropists.

And gold medal philanthropy facilitators.

The Olympics lifts us up.  At its best, philanthropy does this as well.

It inspires us.

It engages us fully.

It’s as addictive as chocolate when done right.

In fact, MRI data show us when people even simply contemplate giving, the pleasure centers of their brain light up. The very same area of the brain that lights up when we eat chocolate! One might call this the “philanthropic high.”

And, unlike other addictions, this one is good for us!

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The Meaning of Philanthropy, Not Fundraising – Part 2

 

Muir Woods California pathway fork

Get on the Pathway to Passionate Philanthropy, Not Forgettable Fundraising

In Part 1 I laid out why philanthropy inspires, and fundraising tires.

Fundraising must be done, of course, but there’s something about how it’s too often practiced that turns too many people off.

It’s the “fund” part of the word. This makes people think it’s all about money, when really it’s all about valued outcomes.

These valued outcomes are shared by many who care about the cause.

  • Donors and non-donors.
  • Employees and volunteers.
  • Users and providers of services.
  • Development departments and program departments.

All these folks have a collective stake in the love and mission-focused organization’s survival.

Because all of them are dedicated to making the world, or some small corner of it, a better place.

How Philanthropic Stakeholders Get Disenfranchised

When fundraising is delegated to the development committee, or the development director, it disenfranchises a huge segment of folks who care about sustaining the cause — both internally and externally.

Similarly, when donors are competed over, donors are disenfranchised. This may take the form of non-cooperation or even outright war between those who should be facilitating philanthropy.

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The Meaning of Philanthropy, Not Fundraising – Part 1

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Get on the Pathway to Passionate Philanthropy, Not Forgettable Fundraising

 

Philanthropy is a mindset. An embracing culture. A noble value.

Fundraising is a means towards that end. Servant to philanthropy.

Philanthropy, not fundraising.

This has been the tagline for my business and blog since I began Clairification in 2011. It grew naturally out of my experiences working as a frontline development director for 30 years. I’ve always insisted that no single person could possibly receive credit for a donation.  “Donors don’t give because of development staff,” I’d tell program staff.  “They give because of the great work you do!”

Sustainable fundraising takes a village.

In fact, in my practice I went so far as to develop a point system for major gifts moves management (you can learn about it here) that ascribed many more points for a donor meeting with a program director than one with a development staffer.  I wanted to show program staff how much they counted!

Everyone counts.

This is exactly the premise of the groudbreaking report commissioned in 2016 by the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, “Beyond Fundraising: What Does it Mean to Build a Culture of Philanthropy?.” It was one of three reports centering on confronting chronic fundraising challenges, and showcased the paramount importance of building an organization-wide philanthropy culture as a paradigm for the 21st century. When the report came out, here’s what I said:

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