Is your fundraising revenue reliable?

Is it enough to cover your programs at their very best, and the administrative and fundraising infrastructure to support them?

If not, it’s time to invite more people to the party.

Asking for money is an age old issue with boards and executive directors, however we no longer have the luxury to sweep it under the carpet.

Overcoming demons like fear of rejection or old money issues that appear like ghosts from your childhood is hard for many of us.

Here’s what it took me to move off the dime many years ago. If this midwest girl can do it…you most definitely can.

How a bunch of 3^rd graders taught me how to ask for large gifts

The first time I asked and received a large gift, I became a new person. Truly.

Not because I succeeded in getting the gift, or that my colleagues on the board would consider me a hero.

That was fun, but it wasn’t the reason. It went much, much deeper.

When I got home with the $5,000 check in my hands, I had tears in my eyes and feelings I couldn’t describe at the time.

“It’s impossible to talk about generosity without being vulnerable; impossible to be truly generous without opening yourself up.”

Katya Andresen, author of Robin Hood Marketing

Yep! I agree.

24 third graders that were already on track to fail in school would now receive after-school tutoring, and I helped. 

There was urgency.

If these kids didn’t become proficient readers and have a command of basic math by 5^th grade, their chances for dropping out of high school skyrocketed.

I still get riled up just thinking about it.

Turns out, I was my own hero. This whole experience was all about me. I was fulfilling my own needs. 

“People become dedicated to causes that change their self image and make their lives feel rich with meaning.”

Fear of rejection? Of course I wasn’t rejected.

I knew this person. I knew she had the money. And I knew she cared as much as I did. We ranted about this kind of thing all the time. 

What I’ve learned since that time is that rejection is rare if you do your homework, but most people don’t get that. 

Turns out, all of that fear was pointless.

As a fundraising expert, I know that when you ask the right person… for the right amount… at the right time… you have little chance of rejection.

But all that goes out the window until you do it yourself. Being book smart doesn’t count. 

I look back and am grateful that I’m not stuck in that place of fear anymore.

If you’re stalling about asking for your first gift, or going out and asking for alot more than your accustomed to – now is the moment.

Assuming the person is ready (25% of donors are ready to be asked) and you’re the right person to be asking, don’t wait.

You’ll look back and regret it.

Action step

Ask yourself this question every day when interacting with donors or even thinking about them. 

Is money at the center of our relationship?

The Golden Rule: keep the work at the center of the relationship – not the money.

If you realize it’s the money, do something immediately to change that. Call them, go out for coffee, ask them their impressions about the organization. 

Be authentic, listen.

Make this shift and get to know these individuals as human beings. Find out what they care about – really deeply. The money will flow. 

Then make sure the board is doing the same thing. Integrate this thinking into the culture of the board.

Check out The Generosity Network and get your board and key staff to read it. It’s revolutionary. 

Once you understand that people want to make a difference on the planet, you realize that the act of fundraising not only is not difficult, painful or frightening.

But is in fact deeply meaningful work.

Do you have old money demons leftover from childhood?