giveitaway 2013-May17

I believe in the law of the universe that says the more you give away, the more will come back to you.  I’ve seen the results of this over and over in my lifetime.  I wish I could say I’m really good at this, but often I fail miserably.
Still, though, I try.  I think our collective natural tendency is to “hold on” to ways of life, people, concepts, constructs and possessions… and to keep things for ourselves.  If we’re good, we give a little bit away for others.  But, generally I like to keep my stuff.
I see a lot of this “holding on” in fundraising.  Whether it’s protecting your “turf” or making sure you “get credit” for a certain gift, “holding on” may actually be holding us back in development.
What would happen if we had the attitude of “just giving it away?”  “What the heck do you mean, Jeff?  We can’t just give stuff away.”  Well hold on to your britches…and listen to this.
Richard told me this great story about a friend of his that just blew me away.  It was about how an institution “gave it away” and the result it had on the donor.
A friend of Richard’s, Bob, (not his real name) is very wealthy.  In fact, he and his wife are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.  One of his dear charities is his alma mater.  He’s been giving to this institution for decades.  And, although Richard doesn’t know the amount, he would guess it is in the millions – multiple millions.
Not too shabby.
His alma mater was going to start a capital campaign to build a new law school.  Now, typically when going into a capital campaign a fundraiser will go after one large donor and give him or her the naming rights to the building.  We’ve all seen those buildings on campuses with peoples’ names on them.  They get their name on the building because they gave a ton of money to put the building up.
However, this institution did something different.  Instead of asking Bob for the lead gift to name the building, they decided to just go ahead and name the law school building after Bob with no commitment because of all he’d done for the institution.  In essence, they gave away the naming rights.  He had been such an amazing partner that they felt it was just “the right thing to do.”
So, Richard asked Bob, “How did that make you feel?”  Bob said, “I was so humbled. It brought me to tears… and then I wrote them the biggest check I’ve ever written to a charity.”
Powerful stuff.
Recently, I was working with a client in a similar situation.  They had spent months and months trying to figure out a “naming rights package” for one of their best donors to honor a member of their family.  For a $10 million ask they had a number of things they were going to “package” to this donor.
Then I recalled the idea from the institution that had honored Bob. I recommended the client do the same thing for this donor instead of asking them for more money.
Obviously, this was risky for my client.  But, this donor had given $20 million over many, many years.  He was one of their best donors and it was right to honor this family.
A few weeks ago I got a note from my client.  They had told their donor they wanted to name a certain part of their institution after his wife.  The donor was absolutely elated and the family was so grateful!  They gave the naming rights away!
Did the donor write out a massive check right on the spot?  No.  Will he?  I would bet on it.  Guaranteed?  No.  Was it the right thing to do?  Absolutely.
And, if you believe that when you give something away, it comes back to you many times over…even if it doesn’t come right back to you personally, then whatever happens, it will be good.
For those donors who have shown such commitment and passion about your mission over many years, what a genuine way to honor them.  And, let me be clear…it has to be genuine.  When both of these institutions “gave away” the naming rights, they did it because they recognized what great partners they had in their mission.  Yes, it had a positive affect, but that wasn’t their motivation.
These are just a couple of examples of “giving it away.”  There are so many more.  Here’s a challenge to consider other ways of letting go instead of “holding on.”  Think of the possibilities it could have for you and your organization.
Jeff

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