Reflections on Generosity
Kick off your week with a 5-minute reflection on generosity to ground yourself as you go about your fund development tasks. Each reflection includes a question to ponder throughout the week to aid your work.
Reflections on Generosity
71: Generosity Covers Failure
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.” JK Rowling
This week, I’m reading various quotes to reflect on how generosity covers our failures.
Reflection question:
Are we letting failure harden or shame us? Or, are we letting generosity cover our failures with the desire to keep trying?
Reflection on Quotes:
Last week, I talked about failure and how to view failure. All this week, I’ve been thinking about how donors view our failures. Although we can Google a bunch of quotes about people not wanting others to be successful or root for our failures, that is not how donors view failures in our nonprofit work. Instead, because donors are investing in our work, they are cheering us on to move passed our failures.
When donors see that we are seeking to succeed in our work, they will see failures as a learning process to better serve our missions in the future. What we do next matters. It’s easy to be ashamed or to let the failure harden us into never wanting to make a mistake again. Especially when we respect the sacrificial giving leads some donors to give to our organizations.
However, our donors have not called us to live cautiously, to feed half a child or protect half the land or play half the music. No, their gifts cover our failures with a desire for us to keep trying, or as Brené Brown states, to keep daring greatly.
To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.
Music credit: Woeisuhmebop
Welcome back. This podcast explores the beautiful space where generosity occurs through ancient and modern writings from all cultures, seeking deeper wisdom for fund development work. If you like this podcast, please leave a review in your favorite podcast app.
Last week, I talked about failure and how to view failure. All this week, I’ve been thinking about how donors view our failures. Although we can Google a bunch of quotes about people not wanting others to be successful or root for our failures, that is not how donors view failures in our nonprofit work. Instead, because donors are investing in our work, they are cheering us on to move passed our failures. This week, I’m reading various quotes to reflect on that.
John Wesley once stated,
Quote
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
Unquote
When donors see that we are seeking to succeed in our work, they will see failures as a learning process to better serve our missions in the future. What we do next matters.
Barack Obama stated,
Quote
“The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
Unquote
It’s easy to be ashamed or to let the failure harden us into never wanting to make a mistake again. Especially when we respect the sacrificial giving leads some donors to give to our organizations.
However,
J.K. Rowling stated,
Quote
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”
Unquote
Our donors have not called us to live cautiously, to feed half a child or protect half the land or play half the music. No, their gifts cover our failures with a desire for us to keep trying, or as Brene Brown states, to keep daring greatly.
Let’s reflect on one question this week.
Are we letting failure harden or shame us? Or, are we letting generosity cover our failures with the desire to keep trying?
Share this podcast if you enjoy these five-minute reflections and subscribe to receive these reflections released every Monday. To explore fundraising coaching deeper, visit Serving Nonprofits dot com. See you next week.
