In all our years of working with development professionals and major gift officers, Richard and I have found that one of the biggest barriers to success is when people expect to fail.
Let me explain. We find many, many folks in development who either create stories in their heads about what donors are thinking, or they start by envisioning that what they will propose to a donor will be rejected.
For example, a donor calls an MGO and asks about a certain program or project that they are interested in funding. I’ve seen an MGO take that great opportunity (how often does the donor call you?) and “blow it” by assuming that he shouldn’t ask the donor for too much because he doesn’t want to “upset” the donor. He’s created a story in his head that the donor will be mad at him for asking too much.
It’s what Seth Godin wrote recently in one of his recent blog posts, “Brace for Impact.” He points out that most of our failure comes because we fear that bad things will happen, so we prepare ourselves in advance for failure, by expecting it.
Seth writes, “Worse than this, far worse, is that we brace for impact way more often than impact actually occurs. The boss calls us into her office and we brace for impact. The speech is supposed to happen next Friday and we spend a week bracing for impact. All the clenching and imagining and playacting and anxiety — our culture has fooled us into thinking that this is a good thing, that it’s a form of preparation.”
How often do you do this? I know I’ve done it many times. I expect the worst, and I’ve spent all this time worrying about failing. If you are a MGO and you’re fretting about an upcoming donor meeting, what is your attitude going into that meeting?
Bracing for impact is really about your own fear of failing. So you brace for impact to prepare yourself for the worst. Is that any way to live?
Do you visualize a great outcome, or have you prepared only for a negative outcome? We believe that your attitude and mindset, and how you approach a situation or your job, will affect the outcome.
Seth goes on to say, “When you walk around braced for impact, you’re dramatically decreasing your chances. Your chances to avoid the outcome you fear, your chances to make a difference, and your chances to breathe and connect.”
Do you live your life braced for impact? How does that serve you? How has that helped you in your professional life? How do donors respond to you if you are more worried about a negative outcome, rather than casting a vision that is full of joy and hope?
As a fundraising professional your job is to be what I call a “broker of love.” You have the tremendous responsibility to bring together a donor’s passion and desire to change the world, and the many opportunities your organization has to do just that.
You cannot do that if you are constantly “braced for impact,” if you are more worried about a negative outcome than helping your donors find joy in their philanthropy.
Your challenge, as we start to move into the fall giving season, is this: how are you going to approach your donors, your job… your life? Are you going to live in fear that you will not make your goals, so you do everything possible to get ready for the ramifications? Or are you going to tell your donors a story of vision and passion so that they will want to invest in your organization and make an impact?
You still may not make your goal, but you’ve lived life in the process. And that’s the point. Life is meant to be lived fully, not wracked with fear. Your work in fundraising is not to get by and worry about something that may not happen, but to go out and MAKE it happen.
Don’t live your life and do your work “braced for impact.” Live it and work it with joy, vision and hope. Your donors will respond to that.
Jeff