Reflections on Generosity for Capital Campaigns

"No one can have a happy life if he looks only to himself, turning everything to his own advantage. If you want to live for yourself, you must live for another..." This week, I am reading from Seneca’s Moral Letters , published in 65 AD. Reflection questions: How do we view a donation?  Is it simply money for our organization’s advantage?  Or, do we view it as a bid for connection from t...

"...In which class are you? Are you easing the load      Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road? Or are you a leaner, who lets others share      Your portion of labor, and worry and care?" This week, I’m reading a poem, The Two Kinds of People by Ella Wheeler Wilcox , published in 1896. Reflection questions: Is there a new fund development professional in your network that you can...

"...Suppose someone standing by a clear, sweet spring were to curse it: it just keeps right on bringing drinkable water bubbling up to the surface. Even if he throws mud or dung in it, before long the spring disperses the dirt and washes it out, leaving no stain..." This week, I am reading quotes from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius , written around 171 AD. Reflection questions: Are we ho...

"...pride is to be feared even when we do right actions, lest those things which are done in a praiseworthy manner be spoiled by the desire for praise itself." I sought wisdom from Augustine.  First, from Augustine’s book, On the Happy Life , published in 386 AD.  And, then from his letter 118 , written in 410 AD. Reflection questions: How often are we confronted with the mountain of pri...

"...On the psychological level, precommitment could induce a preference for avoiding inconsistency, leading people to act in line with their past or committed behaviour. Our study provides behavioural and neural evidence that supports the link between generosity and happiness..." This week, I’m reading quotes from A neural link between generosity and happiness by S. Q. Park and several r...

"...Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits...." This week, I’m reading a quote, often attributed to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1873. Reflection questions: In our fundraising materials, are we guard them from weeds of hatred and strife? Related, do we seek to fill the metaphorical garden of donors with...

The Drafter of Many Appeals ends the article with ... "But the fact is that motives of pure reason to explain voluntary action are usually difficult of discovery, and not in charitable spheres only..." This week I am reading " The Ethics of giving: The Ratio of Generosity to Income " by "a Drafter of Many Appeals" from the Hospital Magazine, published in 1915. Reflect...

"...[Generosity] removes a weight, a burden, a nagging fear. It sets one free to appreciate and enjoy what one has, rather than being burdened with the wish that one had more or worry about losing it. This kind of personal transformation shores up the personal security grounded in believing that, whatever the future holds, one will always have enough....." This week, I’m reading a quote...

"...Guilt appeals in the field of persuasion are quite common. However, the effectiveness of these messages is sometimes ambivalent. It is widely acknowledged that guilt leads people to engage into prosocial behaviors, but the effects of guilt can also be counter-productive...." This week, I am reading a quote from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu and A Theory of Guilt Appeals: A Review Showi...

"...Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, they have mixed their wonderful joy with their deep poverty, and the result has been an overflow of giving to others..." This week, I’m reading from 2 Corinthians by Saint Paul. Reflection questions: Is there a volunteer or Board member you have deemed too poor to give the opportunity to donate? How can you empower all...

"....Once we have learned to love the rich for who they are rather than what they have; and once we believe that we have something of great value to give them, then we will have no trouble at all in asking someone for a large sum of money...." This week, I’m reading a quote from The Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen , originally presented in 1992. Reflection questions: When I m...

"But sometimes our concern for the poor may carry with it a prejudice against the rich." This week, I’m reading a quote from The Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen , originally presented in 1992. Reflection questions: Am I falling into either extreme of begging or entitlement? With our donors, how am I prioritizing the relationship over the request? To purchase: The Spirituality...

"...The waves beside them danced; but they [daffodils] Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought:..." I'm reading two reflections on nature, abundance, and generosity: On Benefits by Seneca published in 59 AD and I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsw...

"...Those of us who ask for money need to look carefully at ourselves. The question is not how to get money. Rather, the question is about our relationship with money. We will never be able to ask for money if we do not know how we ourselves relate to money...." This week, I’m reading a quote from The Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen , originally presented in 1992. To purchase...

"...People have such a need for friendship and for community that fund-raising has to be community-building...." This week, I’m reading a quote from The Spirituality of Fundraising by Henri Nouwen , originally presented in 1992. Reflection Questions: How does this perspective of communion, belonging, and friendship affect you in your work? Thinking back to your last fundraising appeal, w...

"...One glance most kind That fell like sunshine where it went— Then you may count that day well spent..." I would like to share a poem from George Eliot, Count That Day Lost , published in 1887, and a quote from Aristotle which he wrote around 350 BC.  Reflection question: Will you join me and challenge yourself to donate generously this year? To read: George Eliot, Count That Day Lost...

"...Both generous and ungenerous people live lives that are less than ideal. But the generous possess an insight usually missing among the less generous. They know that they already have enough, and that clinging to what they have or clamoring for more will not bring about greater happiness. So they share some of their time, money, and care with others. They tend to see the beauty of life, th...

"Donors, grantees, and beneficiaries need each other to bring something beautiful and life-giving to fruition. It is a collaboration borne of deep desire to find meaning, to be a blessing, to be part of something successful and consequential, and to heal the sorrows of life....” This week I am reading two quotes from Imagining Abundance. Fundraising, Philanthropy, and A Spiritual Call to Serv...

"...May I be a guard for those who have no protector, A guide for those who journey on the road. For those who wish to go across the water, May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge..." This week, I am reading a reflection from Shantideva from the 8th century AD. Reflection Questions: Which metaphor most resonates with your work? Consider asking a donor which metaphor resonates with them about y...

"...For with wisdom cometh patience, And with patience cometh rest..." This week, I am reading the poem The Hardest Time of All , by Sarah Doudney. Written in 1896. Reflection Questions: Will you reflect on your current fundraising or mission challenges and consider where perseverance, patience, wisdom, and rest can enter in? Will you take the time to document those challenges and then s...

"...She's somebody's mother, boys, you know, For all she's aged and poor and slow. "And I hope some fellow will lend a hand To help my mother, you understand,..." This week, I am reading the poem Somebody’s Mother by Mary Dow Brine . Written in 1878. Reflection questions: In thinking of your work, what is your somebody’s fill-in-the-blank? What brings you pride and jo...

"...See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.      For in truth it is life that gives unto life—while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness...." This week, I am reading the poem On Giving by Kahil Gibran . Published in 1923. Reflection question: How are you rising together with the giver, whatever their motivation? To explore more: the po...

"...Those who hoard their gifts, living with clenched fists, suffer the sadness of a pinched soul and a miserly existence. They never experience the extravagant blessings that come to those who live with open hands and giving hearts... This week, I am reading various quotes from Being Generous by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch , published in 2009. Reflection question: In this field,  how is your...

"...I would say that other‐preservation is the first law of life. It is the first law of life precisely because we cannot preserve self without being concerned about preserving other selves..." In honor of the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior Day in the United States, I thought I would share two related quotes from him. Both of these quotes come from the time of his launch of the Poor...

"...Remove gift and gratitude from human society, and what remains is not a community but a "lonely crowd," in the famous words of the sociologist David Riesman..." This week, I am reading various quotes from Being Generous by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch , published in 2009. Reflection questions: Have you ever considered if some of the donors to your missions are giving because...