Reflections on Generosity

"...A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed...." This week, I’m reading a quote from the Jewish wisdom on generosity from Proverbs 11. Reflection questions: As you wait for donors to respond to a campaign, have you given to the mission you serve? How are you leading this week in your daily life with the intention of generosity in your own life? Reflection on Quote:A part of any campaign is the waiting.  We wait for a donor to join us in that beautiful space called generosity.  In that space is both the donor and us, you and I. If we are asking donors to be generous,  what should we doing?   As we wait for donors to join us in that beautiful space of generosity, our hearts must be transformed by generosity as well.  As a consultant, my work has been to teach nonprofits on how to encourage generosity from their donors.  Several years back, I had an epiphany.  I was asking others to be generous - even sacrificially generous, yet I had never stopped to reflect on my own generosity.  Now, it happened to be around tax time, so I took a look at past tax returns and…

"...For with wisdom cometh patience, And with patience cometh rest..." This week, I am reading the poem The Hardest Time of All, by Sarah Doudney. Written in 1896. Reflection Questions: Where are you waiting for some major change to occur as a result of your work?  Is it time to gain more wisdom or to be more patient or to stop and rest in that area? Will you take the time to document your hopes for change in the coming year and then schedule an email to send that reflection to yourself in a year as a way to see that those hardest times of waiting was when the change was actually occurring? Reflection on the poem:This week, I attended our statewide Association of Fundraising Professionals conference, just to sit in the audience and learn.  A recurring theme was perseverance in small daily tasks that will yield fruit.  Our work does take patience in order to see change. Whatever your faith tradition, let’s take a moment to reflect on wisdom, patience, and rest as it works itself out in faith.  With wisdom comes patience and patience comes rest.  If we stop and reflect on the changes that have occurred in the last…

..."An association [nonprofit] is an educated and powerful body of citizens which cannot be twisted to any person's will or quietly trodden down,..." This week, I’m reading selected quotes from Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville, published in 1835. Note.  His use of the word association is our current word for nonprofit. Reflection questions: Are you getting caught up how national events affect the nonprofit you serve?  Will you instead reflect on ways your nonprofit is improving your community through the power of association and democracy? How are you giving opportunities for donors to see that they are a part of that powerful body of citizens that work together to save common liberties? Reflection on quote: In the United States, we are in the middle of election season.  As nonprofit leaders, we can wonder and even worry about the effect the election will have on the missions we serve.  However, instead of getting caught up in that worry, we can look to the role of nonprofits in democracies and how generosity promotes democracy.  Let’s consider these ideas that, according de Tocqueville, nonprofits have a vital role in maintaining democracy. Nonprofits through our missions allow citizens to act together to alleviate the…

"...the potentially world-changing and life-giving power that may be present in or working through the goodness of the donors' hearts and souls; if only someone would acknowledge it, call it forth, and nurture it!" This week, I am reading a quote from Growing Givers’ Hearts: Treating Fundraising as Ministry by Thomas Jeavons and Rebekah Burch Basinger. 2000 edition. Reflection questions: Where are there areas that we are failing to recognize the world-changing and life-giving power that resides the donors’ hearts and souls? How are you giving space for donors  to share their desire to be world changing and life giving? Reflection on quote: As we prepare for year-end giving or any fundraising campaign, how we message matters.  Are we selling a transaction or inviting generosity? This quote reminds me of a conservation nonprofit client and their experience with a donation.  The donor planned to give appreciated stock for their donation.  When the donor was told how to avoid capital gains tax, they refused and instead insisted on selling the stocks, paying the capital gains tax, and donating the proceeds. This donor cared more about the world-changing and life-giving power that was present in or working through the goodness of his heart and…

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”  JK Rowling This week, I’m reading various quotes to reflect on how generosity covers our failures. Reflection question: Are we letting failure harden or shame us?  Or, are we letting generosity cover our failures with the desire to keep trying?    Reflection on Quotes: Last week, I talked about failure and how to view failure. All this week, I’ve been thinking about how donors view our failures. Although we can Google a bunch of quotes about people not wanting others to be successful or root for our failures, that is not how donors view failures in our nonprofit work.  Instead, because donors are investing in our work, they are cheering us on to move passed our failures. When donors see that we are seeking to succeed in our work, they will see failures as a learning process to better serve our missions in the future.  What we do next matters. It’s easy to be ashamed or to let the failure harden us into never wanting to make a mistake again. …

"...All that happens, happens right: you will find it so if you observe narrowly..." This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD. Reflection questions: When you have failed in your work recently, how are observing narrowly for the right things that came out of it? Are you seeking perfection or goodness in your fundraising activities? Reflection on the quote: In working with over 100 clients, it’s not surprising that I’m well-acquainted with failure as well. A donor event that no one shows up to. An email campaign that raises zero dollars. A year-end direct mail campaign that goes out in January. A fundraising event where no one gives.  As much as I want every campaign, event, fundraising activity to be successful, that’s not real life.  So how do we grapple with that. This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD. All that happens, happens right.  Notice that Aurelius did nt say, all that happens, happens perfectly.  Or, successfully.  But, he says “right if you observe narrowly.” We can get stuck in embarrassment or paralysis.  We can fear that donors will stop giving to us because of…