"...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.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

..."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.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

"...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

"...The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause..."

This week, I’m reading from Citizenship in a Republic, a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910.

Reflection question:

• How will you let the dust, sweat, and blood from last week go and look forward to daring greatly this week?

Reflection on Quote:

Earlier this week, I attended the grand opening of our local library. The capital campaign had been delayed and had faced many obstacles and criticisms. Despite of all this, the volunteer members of the fundraising committee persisted. And, the joy at the grand opening was contagious all because these volunteers decided to keep going.

Too often we are distracted by obstacles and criticisms. Our work is hard, dust, sweat and blood. We make errs and we will come short at times. But, we are spending ourselves for a worthy cause and we are daring greatly. And, when we persist in our work, we like the volunteers on the fundraising committee have ability to bring joy to those in our communities.

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