Is your job really to raise money?

Is your job really to raise money? Og Mandino, author of The Greatest Salesman in the World wrote:

“The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.”

His book, written in 1968, is about a poor camel boy who achieves a life of abundance. It’s still popular today and serves as a philosophical guide for salesmanship and success.
 
What you can take away from his story is the following:
– Your job as a fundraiser is really to “help others undertake consequential acts of kindness and generosity”    (according to Jerold Panas).
– Your job is to provide others with opportunities to make a difference in the world.
– Your job is to facilitate the process of giving money away.
– Your job is to show people how they can be remembered by others.
– Your job is to help people honor or memorialize others.
– Your job is to encourage people to be philanthropic.
– Your job is to help people find meaning in their lives.
 
If you disagree, then I think you might be in the wrong business.
If you agree but your boss disagrees, then you might have the wrong boss and you probably should find another one at a different organization.
 
Money gets raised after you provide value to your organization’s supporters and make them feel good!
Render more and better service than is expected of you and you’ll raise more money.
You can take that to the bank!
 

Related Posts:

>>Engagement Fundraising in 7 Simple Bullet-Points
>>Why you should worry less about reducing overhead and more about delivering value
 

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[…] what?  The heart of your job as a nonprofit do-gooder is not to take money from folks; it’s to give folks purpose. This is why, if you’ve read or listened to me much at […]

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