Good News: An enewsletter for donors and nonprofits
on strategic planning, governance, fundraising, and executive leadership.
The Giving Glow
Why do so many people, even professional fundraisers and board members, describe the art and science of fundraising with language like “shake downs” and “hitting up friends and family?”
Maybe it is because so many bad fundraisers propagate and model such negative associations and experiences for donors. With the rise of fundraising for fundraising’s sake, giving days, random contests, and rewards that distract us from the true purpose of generating support for important, in many cases life-saving, missions, it is no wonder that many in nonprofit leadership positions (and much of the public) see fundraising as something dirty and to be avoided at all costs. What a shame.
I wish more people had the opportunity to listen to the donors I know. These individuals, foundations, and businesses see their giving not as something akin to eating their broccoli (good for you but who actually likes doing it?) but rather as a means to great joy and meaning in their lives. These donors consistently reflect on their giving not as a coerced hardship but as something that provides continuous, increasing happiness in their lives. Many wish they had been more generous, sooner.
So before you allow friends, family, and colleagues to color fundraising as something other than noble and as presenting an opportunity to folks to find great joy and meaning, remember that smart philanthropic investments pay returns for a long time without ever having to worry that your return comes at the expense of someone else’s well-being.
Stuff Steve is Watching, Listening to, and Reading
The Glen T. MacLeod YMCA (3 minute watch)
“It’s not just getting a return on your assets. It’s what you do with that return. It does make me warm and happy inside that I was able to do this for this community.” Glen MacLeod on the Glen T. MacLeod YMCA
Bill Cummings (23 minute listen)
“We came to know Dr. Farmer fairly well. Their office is in Boston, by the way, and we wanted to support his work. That included a new medical school near Kigali, Rwanda. So that becomes our first real involvement outside the local area, and the foundation has been involved in that right from the start. It was delightful to see it, the formal campus opening takes place this year already. So that’s our one big digression from the local area.” Bill Cummings on Elevate with Robert Glazer
Hedonic Adaptation (3 minute read)
“The data, from a total of 96 participants, showed a clear pattern: Participants started off with similar levels of self-reported happiness and those who spent money on themselves reported a steady decline in happiness over the 5-day period. But happiness did not seem to fade for those who gave their money to someone else. The joy from giving for the fifth time in a row was just as strong as it was at the start.” The Joy of Giving Lasts Longer than the Joy of Getting, Association for Psychological Science
