Recently a friend of mine was promoted. Now she is in a leader position at her organization’s headquarters. Yippee!
I asked her, “What will you change first?”
She pounced on the question and answered right away by saying, “I’m going to make sure our staff understands that there’s nothing wrong with fundraising.”
She went on to recount how her predecessor would habitually talk about fundraising in a derogatory manner by repeatedly saying, “It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.”
“Why is asking for money a dirty job?” she asked me rhetorically. Of course, we both agree, it’s not!
People WANT to give. We are just here to make it easier. We are here to facilitate the process. And, by doing so, we empower them to do what they can’t do alone. We give them the opportunity to do good along with us.
It’s NOT a dirty job. And, yes, someone DOES have to do it if they want to make the world a better place. Let’s not allow staff members (and leaders) to put down fundraising. It is the lifeblood of the organization and should be treated with the respect it deserves.
Related Resources:
- My Simplest Explanation of How Engagement Fundraising Works
- Engagement Fundraising in 7 Simple Bullet Points
- The 8 core components of engagement fundraising and why you desperately need them
- Donor Story: Epic Fundraising eCourse
As usual, Greg, you’ve described the essence of what we are all about in a pithy, powerful narrative. It actually connects with your other recent posts about how we view and treat HNW donors – what is our attitude toward those people’s wealth? Are we celebrating with them and giving them a way to “come along side” them to implement a vision? Or are we treating them with suspicion (envy?) b/c of our own poverty attitudes and false theories of how wealth is acquired and stewarded? Fundraising is a blessing – for us all!
What other word can we use for “fundraising”? – I’ve had conversations with my colleagues in Planned Giving about what it is that we actually do . . . that may help!
How about philanthropic counseling, Laura?
When I tell someone my profession and someone says “Oh, that must be hard,” I say, “It’s probably not what you think.” (It is NOT my job to persuade anyone to make a gift that they don’t want to make.)
Long ago, I represented a public broadcasting institution. There were on-air pledge drives. (Granted, that is a different model from the individual fundraising that I do.) A CEO seemed apologetic when a donor complained about them. I piped up sincerely, “but I listen to on-air pledge drives in cities around the country and ours are SOOO much better!” The CEO said, “That’s like saying our toxic waste dump is better than their toxic waste dump.” They were a broadcasting purist. I was shocked and offended.
Clearly, that CEO loves the transactional aspects of low-dollar fundraising strategies that fail to seriously move the needle. Sad.
Thanks for contributing Lori.