Here’s a great piece of advice you can use year-round, but particularly at the end of the year when you make your final “clean up” calls to acquire and/or renew donors who’ve not yet given to you. And by “use,” I mean do the opposite of what they recommend. I came upon the advice in…
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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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What will you hope for in the coming year? Some years ago a college classmate sent me and others this question by way of a year-end holiday missive, ruminating on how hope and optimism are similar yet different. It struck a chord with me (Thank you David Mahoney). You see, I’m not generally an optimist.…
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“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.
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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Today I’m writing about something that’s not fundraising or nonprofit marketing strategy per se. It’s about how to have hope – and take action – during times that may feel hopeless. For most of us, we’ve perhaps never been in perilous times during our lifetimes. For a host of reasons. And it’s not…
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I’m going to guess “yes.” I’m sure some will hate me for saying this, but after 30+ years in the nonprofit trenches and another 10+ as a coach and consultant, I’m still amazed at how small many of us think. In 2008 during the big recession, and 2020 during the pandemic, all I heard was…
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Radiance is meant-to-be. Radiance means: To have the light within us lit To send out light To reflect back light To bounce light back and forth, in simultaneous service to ourselves and others. What if you were to view your work as allowing your own and others’ meant-to-be radiance to come forth and shine? I’m…
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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.
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.
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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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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Can AI help your nonprofit connect authentically with people so you, and the social benefit sector as a whole, do a effective job addressing today’s most pressing problems? In other words, can AI help you drive loyalty? The short answer is yes. But it won’t happen if you keep working as you’ve always…
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