“The simple but difficult marketing flip –

     From, ‘Pay attention, I want you to buy what I made.’
     to…
     ‘I’ve been paying attention, and I think I can offer you what you want.’”

With very few words, Seth captures Veritus’s core message about fundraising – that it’s not about the money. It’s about a very sacred, special, and intimate interaction with a human being who desires, with their resources of time and money, to do good on the planet.

This is the time of year we think about community, about giving, about relationships, about those people we value. We also think about those that aren’t as blessed as we are. It is a good time to reflect on your donors and remember that first, they are human beings with passions and interests that they must express, and second, that they are a source of funding to make your mission happen.

It is this second thing – the source of funding – that, in our opinion, must be thought of with care and delicacy so that, to adapt Seth’s writings above, we can make the simple but difficult fundraising flip:

     From, “Pay attention, I want you to give to what we are trying to do.”
     to….
     “I’ve been paying attention, and I think I can offer you a great opportunity to do the good you want to do.”

This is the essence of good, ethical, and authentic fundraising. And it is the path to retaining donors and their economic value.

You are just days away from a new year. And this is an opportunity to change how you view and treat your donors. If you can successfully move from a transactional money-oriented mindset to a place where you’re truly valuing each donor, it is going to make an impressive difference in your donor relationships and economy.

Start the new year with a resolution to get rid of the fear that you will not get the money you need. Resolve to hold those good donors close to your heart and spirit, loving and caring for them as fellow journeyers on this planet who, like you, desire to solve problems and help heal the hurts and wounds we all carry.

This shift will do you good in so many ways. We promise that.