PURPOSE RULES FEAR
May 08, 2017
You know that thing that happens to you when you know it's time to bring up money in a donor conversation? That moment when you know you have to say it or you'll miss your chance or chicken out?
Your heart races, your face gets hot and you start to do that zoning in thing where all you hear is what’s in your head.
You are not alone!
After more than a decade of asking for money, this still happens to me.
It also happens to Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise, an amazing organization that has built 400 schools in Guatemala, Ghana and Laos and given tens of thousands of kids access to education.
In Adam’s fantastic book, The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change, he has an entire chapter dedicated to his fear of fundraising. It’s called Vulnerability is Vital.
Adam describes his first ask of a six-figure commitment from a potential donor. He writes, “My face was still but my chest was pounding.”
Adam describes how he felt about fundraising, even after 3 years of running Pencils of Promise: “I hated asking people for money…But here’s the truth: I was scared. Scared to face rejection. Scared to hear no. Scared to be seen as someone who was asking for a handout.”
Fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of what that person across the table will think of you after you ask them for money.
You are not alone! This is why we started Fundraisers' Monthly.
To help you remember that purpose rules fear.
Purpose. The reason why you do what you do. The actual difference a gift can make - not just the “difference” we refer to in annual reports, general thank you letters or on the website, but the real difference you’ve seen and felt from the money you have raised or, better yet, from the money you have given.
What if, before every single conversation with a potential donor, you remind yourself of that purpose?
You can actually visualize the difference you make in your head and walk in that room with all of the confidence you need to overcome that fear (‘cause it’ll still be there), but it won’t rule. Your purpose will.
Adam described this change in perspective: “It wasn’t just about fear. It was about ego. I was putting myself at the center of the equation…As soon as I shifted my focus to the children and our staff, I suddenly became excited to make an ask. It no longer felt like a burden. It suddenly became and honor.”
You’ve got this!
Get out there and make some generous change.
-Jenna
