The Power of Your Mindset When It Comes to Asking for Donations
People always say to me, “I could neverrrrrr ask for money.” Do they ever say that to you?
My response is: I don’t think of connecting donors to making an impact as if I’m asking for money. In fact, you’ve probably heard me say I think of it like making friends. Truthfully, I couldn’t wake up and do this job every day if I did think of it as “asking for money”. Who wants to think of themselves as someone who asks someone for money? Not me.
The power of your mindset is hugely important when you are a nonprofit fundraiser for two reasons:
First, positive attracts positive. The difference between you being inspiring vs. dull or engaging vs. indifferent can really separate the fundraisers who have a surplus compared to those struggling to stay afloat. If you maintain a positive attitude on your role as a fundraiser - you will attract donors who want to give to your organization.
Second, only you have the unique opportunity of being a connector between your donor and the mission your organization works to achieve.
I want to pause for a moment and have you think of the last time you gave something away. Was it money, was it your time, was it an item? How did you feel after you practiced giving?
When I was at my first job at There With Care in Boulder, CO - I had a client by the name of Deanna. She was a 17-year old, completely on her own. After falling into trouble with drugs, she found herself in jail. I talk about micro-blessings all the time and believe it or not, Deanna had a micro-blessing while incarcerated. In addition to getting sober, she had a staff person examine a growth on her back that was the size of a baseball. The growth turned out to be a sarcoma - a bone cancer - and Deanna was now working to navigate it all. That was how I met Deanna. In addition to needing rides to and from the hospital and food, she needed a friend. I remember one time taking her to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and her telling me a story where she said, “F*ck,” and then *gasped*. I asked her, “What?” and she replied, “Sorry - I didn’t mean to curse in front of you. I know I’m not supposed to do that in front of grown-ups.” She was 17 and I was 21.
After supporting Deanna for many months and ultimately seeing her through her cancer treatment, we began to work together on some stability tactics so that she could begin to rebuild her life in health and happiness. She enrolled in school and got a job. A lack of transportation was a huge barrier to her success. Amazingly, we had a volunteer who instead of selling a truck they weren’t using anymore, decided to donate it to There With Care. We decided Deanna should have it - and her upcoming birthday was the best time to give it to her. After a day of getting our nails done and eating lunch, I was the lucky one who was able to “give” her the new car. We pulled right up, nose to nose and I said, “Happy Birthday…” She looked at me, confused, and then back to the car and said, “What, for me?” I just smiled and said, “Let’s go take a look.” As she got to check out her new ride, I remember thinking: This. This is why parents buy their kids cars when they turn 16. Over 15 years later as I write out this story - I STILL get good feelings when I think back to that day.
Can you imagine being a donor to make that kind of happiness possible? That is your job as a fundraiser.
If you don’t believe me, you need to watch Michael Norton’s Money Can Buy Happiness TedTalk. Trust me, it’s worth the 10 minutes especially for any of you who need some proof that giving is what really lights someone up. I won’t give it all away, but Michael breaks down across multiple examples that when people spend money on themselves there is effectively no change in their happiness scale. Compare that to people giving away their time, money or items and not only does their happiness skyrocket, but so does their productivity.
Finally, I wanted to share a text message from my dad that was sent to me, my brothers and my husband last week (see below). In it, he is helping out a client in more than one way. After assisting him out with some logistical things like getting his bank info, my dad stuck a birthday card in the mail to his him. Turns out - it was the only birthday card that client received this year. What’s most amazing to me is how good helping David out made MY DAD feel. Him texting this image to us wasn’t him try to boast about him doing a good deed, but was him trying to make the good feeling of helping someone else out last longer. Also, when something feels this good - you can’t help but want others to have it. Indirectly, my dad was trying to show us that when you help others out - you can feel happy - and of course, he wants all of his kids to be happy.
So, what if you thought of yourself as a Happiness Maker instead of a fundraiser?
What if you thought of yourself as the bridge between those who want to be happy with those who need a little help? My guess is that you would not only skip into work each day, but your ability to get creative on how to connect people with your organization would skyrocket. You will get jazzed at the opportunity to meet or re-engage donors. You will begin to think of donors person by person vs. by the masses, thus creating a customized giving program that makes donors feel special.
Want to try it? Give yourself a new title and go for it. Tell me how shifting your mindset has shifted things for you when it comes to asking donors for money.