Cartoon from today’s link: Charity does not begin in poshest suburbs.
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I read with earnest the article below that appeared in today’s Toronto Star (a sort of prelude to an upcomimg book about today’s nonprofit world.) The author muses about the legacy we need to leave - as normal every-day individuals - in light of the recent “epic”-donations from huge, famous, mega-business gods and celebrities. An imprint with both our finances and the involvement of our time. His desperation is felt throughout the article especially as he walks through a number of interviews with charity fundraisers. A desperation haunted by the striking need of humankind. His thinking is that our generation (40-somethings) are giving more, volunteering less and that the coming generation will do less of both.
What do you think? And what do your donors think? I spoke to a donor the other day that remarked how “sorry” she felt because she could only give $75. “I’m no Gates”, she said.
The article is thoughtful, powerful, extremely well researched and factual, and worth the long read. It’ll stir debate and yet his words are an honest look…an outsiders look…into our business.
Here is the Toronto Star article in it’s entirely:
Shaking charity’s foundations — Nov. 19, 2006.
Several years ago I began to notice the word “philanthropist” in obituaries, which, at age 57 (and a half), I now read. I observed that many of the deceased - no matter their means, age or sex - had been rigorously engaged in benevolent acts.
I saw, too, in the news pages, that the rich and famous, from Bill Gates to Brad Pitt to Oprah Winfrey, were toiling cheerfully on the world stage for their chosen causes: treating AIDS in Africa, fighting child poverty, helping victims of tidal waves and hurricanes…
I began clipping articles, making inquiries, and searching the literature. The file grew. My initial interest was personal, fuelled by the death of my mother and our large family’s debates about ways to honour her memory. But as I learned more, I began to think about legacy, what we leave behind, the mark we make.
What I kept seeing was individual generosity on a grand, even epic, scale. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is surely the most powerful charitable foundation the world has ever seen. They had a $29 billion (U.S.) war chest (and that was before Warren Buffett tossed in $37.4 billion) and decided, for one thing, to battle malaria in the developing world. The annual budget of the World Health Organization, at $1.65 billion, looks puny by comparison.
It seemed there was a charity Olympics under way, and the numbers were dizzying. Almost every week came news of another windfall. This wasn’t about one person writing a fat cheque and being done with it. The donors’ hands-on involvement, their knowledge and focus, their travels to far-flung places to observe firsthand how their largesse was making a difference - this zealousness seemed new and unprecedented.
Like a character out of the “Lost” TV series, I somehow stumbled upon this post from The Positivity Blog. As I read the post, “Do you make these 10 mistakes in a conversation”, I couldn’t help but make the transition to fundraising - especially when speaking to our donors - especially our BIG donors. Here is the article in it’s entirely:
Can you improve your conversation skills? Certainly.
It might take a while to change the conversation habits that’s been ingrained throughout your life, but it is very possible.
To not make this article longer than necessary let’s just skip right to some common mistakes many of us have made in conversations. And a couple of solutions.
Not listening
Ernest Hemingway once said:
“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”
Don’t be like most people. Don’t just wait eagerly for your turn to talk. Put your own ego on hold. Learn to really listen to what people actually are saying.
When you start to really listen, you’ll pick up on loads of potential paths in the conversation. But avoid yes or no type of questions as they will not give you much information. If someone mentions that they went fishing with a couple of friends last weekend you can for instance ask:
- Where did you go fishing?
- What do you like most about fishing?
- What did you do there besides fishing?
The person will delve deeper into the subject giving you more information to work with and more paths for you choose from.
