Number 1: Going Big
Number 1 in my series for fundraisers: Describe your vision in a compelling way. Ladder it up so it represents big change. That’s what big money (all money, in fact) wants to affect.
How are you going to change the world?
Small, incremental change doesn’t resonate emotionally. Emotion drives decisions. Facts are used to justify. So make the change big and emotional.
As visionary architect Daniel Burnham said:
“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood.”
The Rockefeller Foundation provides advice to wealthy individuals and families: “The meaning you give to your financial wealth is a statement of who you are.” Put yourself in the shoes of the wealthy person. What kind of change would you want to affect?
Charles Collier writes in “Wealth in Families” that it’s a good idea to figure out the why of giving before the how—defining what’s important before deciding what kind of philanthropy you will actually do.
Here are questions the Rockefeller Foundation suggests wealthy individuals and families consider before embarking on a philanthropic journey:
What excites you?
What kind of project best matches your own dreams, skills, and sense of service?
If you were to live your whole life and not attempt one thing, what would leave the biggest hole of regret.
This isn’t small thinking.
I once asked a very successful major gift fundraiser what it is that makes a fundraiser a great fundraiser. The answer was this simple: If a person wants to give to save butterflies you need to turn that into a story about saving forests.
And I love this one Kevin Gentry shared in a recent email.
On August 28, 1963, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was scheduled to deliver the closing remarks at the March on Washington.
The March, organized to advocate for the civil rights of African Americans, had drawn over 250,000 people to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
About a minute or so into his carefully prepared remarks, King heard his friend, the widely acclaimed gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, call out from the crowd, “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin, tell ‘em about the dream!”
That was just the prompt that King needed to push aside his typed-out speech and to speak directly from his heart about his dream for America.
King then delivered what most believe was one of the most consequential orations of all time.
People want to invest in bold, inspirational and risky ideas. Those are the kind that have the kind of magic that stirs men’s blood.