Fundraising’s False Proposition

It’s so common we don’t even see it any more. We keep putting forward a false proposition – that all we need is money.

• Money will solve all our problems
• Money will create more opportunity
• Money will allow us to help more people
• Money will build our reputation and make more people want to give us more money
• Money will lead us to the promised land

Therefore, all we need from people is their money.

But it’s not true; our own lives teach us that. Sure money helps with all those things but achieving success and becoming happy requires much more. It requires we realize what money can’t buy:

• Competence
• Confidence
• Credibility
• Character

We have to develop those to put money in its proper place.

Asking for money without demonstrating the four C’s makes us appear juvenile and shallow.

Reducing constituents to nothing but donors deprives us of their talent, testimony, and truth-telling.

Well, okay, you say, “But isn’t the point of fundraising to raise funds?” To a degree but fundraising must be put in context. Consistent and generous giving is an outgrowth of being in community, in believing in mission, and in seeing how giving makes a difference.

Attempting to raise money without offering the benefits of community, without demonstrating the efficacy of mission, without showing what differences have and could be made while pretending that all we need is money hollows out mission, message, credibility, and community. It causes constituents to question our competence, credibility, and character and, ultimately, lose confidence.

Jim Langley is the president of Langley Innovations. Langley Innovations provides a range of services to its clients to help them understand the cultural underpinnings of philanthropy and the psychology of donors, and with that knowledge, to develop the most effective strategies and tactics to build broader and more lasting communities of support. Jim has authored numerous books, including his most recent book, The Future of Fundraising: Adapting to New Philanthropic Realities, published by Academic Impressions in 2020. 

Related Resources:

• Webinar: 4-Step Process for “Reimagining Fundraising Operations”
• The Power of Building Relationships: Why Donors Need Good Fundraisers
• The Way You Fundraise Matters
• Why what you do is called ADVANCEMENT
• Fundraising’s Worst Oversimplification