The Influential Nonprofit: Episode 130: Maryanne Dersch: Why Fundraising Goals Are Costing You Money
Raising money is critical to a mission. That’s why it’s important to to find a better way of doing this that has more grace, ease, and flow. Measuring by amount only limits how we look at relationships and it makes fundraising transactional. Remember that donors aren’t ATMs.
We tend to not value other things that come to us if they're not supportive of a goal that we need. When we don’t value those things, we’ll miss out on a lot of beauty and joy.
Goals don’t create long-term success and they can restrict our joy if we equate our value with our ability to reach them. Goals create tension, cause smallness and fear, and it can set people up for failure.
This coming 2024, instead of coming up with goals, ask yourselves “what systems and structures are we going to put in place that will help create these goals?” Systems and structures that are put in place to support the goal will help us achieve the success that we want.
When we're only measuring one way of how we build relationships then we're neglecting the other ways that are just as important in the end to creating revenue.
You want to be able to say ‘I can get somebody to do something.’ But you do not get to say who and you don't get to say when. That is the universe's job. They will deliver when they are ready. Sure, you can prompt them and encourage them but if you're pushing them, people will push back.
The systems and structures are going to be the things that are going to help us achieve whatever results we want. It's not the goal that's going to achieve it for us, it’s the systems and structures that we put in place to support the goals.
ASK FOR AND RECEIVE ALL YOU WANT NEED AND DESERVE WITHOUT FEELING REJECTED, INEFFECTIVE, OR PUSHY.
Learn to manage your mindset, lead yourself and others more effectively and have the meaningful conversations that drive your most important work.