Reflections on Generosity

..."See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
     For in truth it is life that gives unto life—while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness...."

This week, I’m reading on this poem On Giving by Khalil Gibran from The Prophet‍, published in 1923. 

Reflection question:

• Are you an instrument of giving?
  
  

Reflection on quote:

What is the first action that every...

"...Acknowledging that one does not know is a humble kind of ignorance, one that is, in fact, filled often with the joy of discovery and wonder at what is discovered..."

This week, I’m reading a quote from Imposed Ignorance and Humble Ignorance - Two Worldviews by Paul Heltne, published in 2008.

Reflection Questions:

• Are we building structures and processes in our work that demand certainty ...

"...We cannot attempt to recount here the long story of all good causes which came to be recognized only after lonely pioneers had devoted their lives and fortunes to arousing the public conscience, of their long campaigns until at last they gained support..."

This week, I’m reflecting on this quote by Friedrich Hayek from The Constitution of Liberty, published in 1960.

Reflection questions:

•  As you consider this quote, ...

"...Two different roads are presented to us, equally leading to the attainment of this so much desired object; the one, by the study of wisdom and the practice of virtue; the other, by the acquisition of wealth and greatness..."

This week, I’m reflecting on a quote by Adam Smith from The Theory of Moral Sentiments, published in 1759.

Reflection question:

• As we show generosity to wealthier donors, are we also cultivating ...

"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

This week, I’m reflecting on the words of Henry Drummond from The Greatest Thing in the World, published in 1874.

Reflection question:

• How are we showing the generous love found in service, courtesy, a...

"...Donor prospects are not objects; they are subjects, and like all of us, they want to contribute to something meaningful and life-giving and successful. Like us, they too search for meaning, have fears and hopes, desires and regrets, and beliefs that should be acknowledged and reverenced..."

In honor of the 100th episode, this week, I am re-reading two quotes from the first episode from Imagining Abundance. Fundraising,...

"...Humble ignorance can imagine that it might be wrong and hopes that its community will correct it early enough to avoid harm.  It can marvel at what it sees that it cannot hope to understand or control...."

This week, I’m reading a quote from Imposed Ignorance and Humble Ignorance - Two Worldviews by Paul Heltne, published in 2008.

Reflection Questions:

• Are we building structures and processes in o...

"...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 t...

"...There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have a lot of money and still be empty. There is no fullness in your heart...."

This week, Pope Francis passed away.  In honor of his teaching on generosity, I am reflecting on his homily from November 8, 2015.

Reflection question:

• Are you asking for leftover generosity?  Or, are you asking for true generosity in your messages to donors?

Reflection on q...

"... If donors are largely unaware of fluctuations in the grants received by charities, then reductions in fund-raising becomes a sensible explanation for crowding out..."

This week, I came across a large scale research article from 2009 titled, “Is Crowding Out Due Entirely to Fundraising?”

Reflection questions:

• If your organization suddenly lost significant government funding, what unique strengths, especially through ...

..."It is the most beautiful, the most noble side of neighbourly love, wherein the word has fully become deed..."

This week, I’m sharing quotes from The Untapped Power of Jewish Fellowships and Forgotten Approaches to Care to connect the practice of hevrot to our work in fundraising.

Reflection questions:

• How are you “thinking in relationship” to avoid depersonalizing our donors?

• How are you bringing groups ...

"...There's only one thing I will not concede: that it might be meaningless to strive for a good cause."

This week, I’m reflecting on his words from Summer Meditations by Vacslav Havel, published in 1993.

Reflection question:

• What is the internal battle within yourself that you are facing related to the external threats to the cause you serve?  And, how will you stand for principle in that internal battle?

Refle...

"...Give charity without delay, for it stands in the way of calamity..."

This week, I’m reflecting on several sayings of the Prophet Mohammad and the Quran and along with the definition of Sadaqah.

Reflection questions:

• How are framing our messaging around giving to include this meaning of charity as speaking truth?

• How do we give our donors the opportunity to speak truth, to speak up when our missions are f...

“...Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself...”

This week, I’m reflected on the words of Cicero as weaved through several of his works, published between 89 BC and 43 BC. 

Reflection questions:

• Is there an area where you are stuck in indecision and procrastination?  

• How can you bring confidence, hope, or trust in a good outcome to that a...

"Thenceforth they are no longer isolated individuals, but a power conspicuous from the distance whose actions serve as an example; when it speaks, people listen...."

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:

• How are we sharing the ...

"....The Stage which was not for low Farce design'd,
But to divert, instruct, and mend Mankind."

This week, I’m reading from the play The Modern Husband by Henry Fielding, published in 1732.

Reflection Question:

There are times when stress is only relieved with a bit of dark humor.  How will you gather with your community of friends and colleagues to laugh in the face of the absurdities we face in our fund developme...

"...Where there is quiet and meditation, there is neither worry nor dissipation...."

This week, I’m reflecting on Of the Virtues putting Vices to Flight by Francis of Assisi, first published in English in 1906.

Reflection questions:

• Which virtue do you want to cultivate this week?

• Complete this sentence, This week, I want our donors to know and feel...

Reflection on quote:

As I record this week’s ref...

"...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts;..."

This week, I am reflecting a quote from George Eliot’s Middlemarch, published in 1871.

Reflection questions:

• When you feel caught up in the uncertainty of this time, what are a few acts of love and kindness that you can do?

• When was the last time you brainstormed small ways that donors can be involved as a partner with the miss...

"...God blesses those people who make peace. They will be called his children!..."

This week, I am reading the words of Jesus and His approach to opponents from Matthew 5 and 6.

View the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon about Enmity and Fundraising Letters from July 7, 1995.

Reflection questions:

• If you were to give your fundraising appeal to an opponent to read, how would they respond?  Would the letter be c...