98: Active Charity
"...Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait." This week, I'm reflecting on a poem, A Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1838. Reflection questions: How does thinking of your donors as partners as well change your perspective? If you are in the middle of a fundraising campaign, when was the last time you gave an update to your donors, to your partners for this campaign? Reflection on poem: This week, I was reminded of the active nature of charity by donors. One of my clients was near the finish line of raising enough to meet their goal and move forward on a capital projects. But, just before the deadline they were short. Just a small gap. They called one of the donors to the project and shared the information about the gap. What did the donor do? He committed to calling his network to fill the gap. And, the gap was filled. It reminded me the quote often attributed to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service.” …