Offering Opportunities to Make a Difference

25 Nov Offering Opportunities to Make a Difference

26 November 2024

By David Allen, Development for Conservation

“I don’t want to ask my friends for money because then they will come to me asking for money for their causes.”

This is a very common fear many volunteers and Board directors experience related to raising money.

It’s also a cop out – a “reason” for not helping raise money.

And it’s also another facet to the pervasive fundraising paradigm that we need to help shift.

Here’s the way many of us think about raising money:

“Help me.”

“This is a worthy cause.”

“Here’s why we need the money. And we DO need the money.”

“I’m sorry. I know this isn’t important to you, but it’s important to me. I would consider it a favor.”

It’s no wonder that we would fear them saying yes to an ask, because it won’t be long before they come right back at us, asking us to “return the favor.”

It’s a valid fear.

But it’s based on the paradigm we are using when we look at fundraising. Like we’re begging. But we can decide not to buy into that paradigm. We can decide to see fundraising through a different lens.

Let’s call that the OLD paradigm.

• The old paradigm says we shouldn’t ask for a cup of sugar when we run out in the middle of holiday baking because they will just be over asking for some baking powder from us tomorrow.
• The old paradigm says we shouldn’t share our Holiday wish lists with family and friends because they will just share theirs with us the next day.
• The old paradigm says that we shouldn’t ask our neighbors to watch our house while we’re gone on vacation because then they will ask us to watch theirs.
• The old paradigm says that we shouldn’t let someone pick up the tab for dinner because they will expect us to pick up the tab next time.

But wait – those are GOOD things, right? Isn’t this the kind of world we WANT to live in?

How do we change the paradigm?

What if we reconsidered the fundraising paradigm from scratch? What if we thought about it less as them helping us and more as us helping them? Or joining together in the service of something important.

Then we might think about asking this way:

“Help the world.”

“This is a golden opportunity.”

“Here’s how you can make a difference. And you CAN make a difference.”

“I’m excited. I know this is very important to you; it’s important to me, too. Let’s do this together.”

In other words, we’re not begging THEM to help US. We are offering an opportunity to make a difference on a program we already know they care about and that is consistent with their personal values.

So, let’s say they do come back at us. Assuming that they come back with an opportunity to make a difference on a program they already know WE care about and that is consistent with OUR personal values – why wouldn’t we welcome that?

Let’s call this the NEW paradigm.

• The NEW paradigm says we SHOULD ask for a cup of sugar when we run out in the middle of holiday baking because they will feel more comfortable asking us for some baking powder tomorrow. That’s what neighbors do.
• The NEW paradigm says we SHOULD share our Holiday wish lists with family and friends because then they’ll know what might really make us happy (and that we really don’t want fruitcake and giant frozen pretzels). And they’ll share theirs with us so that we can give them something they really want.
• The NEW paradigm says that we SHOULD ask our neighbors to watch our house while we’re gone on vacation and welcome the opportunity to watch theirs. Because that’s what healthy communities do.
• The NEW paradigm says that we SHOULD let someone pick up the tab for dinner (every once and a while) because we can gratefully pick up the tab next time.

And the NEW paradigm says that we SHOULD offer our friends and neighbors and other community members an opportunity to make a real difference in the world by supporting the Conservancy’s mission and projects with a financial gift this year.

Perhaps they will offer us a similar opportunity. And perhaps that new opportunity will be interesting and exciting and consistent with the ways we want to make a difference in the world.

And maybe we’ll give, consistent with the limit of our ability and the strength of our interest.

Maybe not.

Either way, it won’t be something we need fear.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers, and Have a great week!

-da

PS: Your comments on these posts are welcomed and warmly requested. If you have not posted a comment before, or if you are using a new email address, please know that there may be a delay in seeing your posted comment. That’s my SPAM defense at work. I approve all comments as soon as I am able during the day.

Photo by Bandi Wage courtesy of Pixaby.