75: Generosity Begins with Us

"...A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed...."

This week, I’m reading a quote from the Jewish wisdom on generosity from Proverbs 11.

Reflection questions:

• As you wait for donors to respond to a campaign, have you given to the mission you serve?

• How are you leading this week in your daily life with the intention of generosity in your own life?

Reflection on Quote:

A part of any campaign is the waiting.  We wait for a donor to join us in that beautiful space called generosity.  In that space is both the donor and us, you and I. If we are asking donors to be generous,  what should we doing?  

As we wait for donors to join us in that beautiful space of generosity, our hearts must be transformed by generosity as well.  As a consultant, my work has been to teach nonprofits on how to encourage generosity from their donors.  Several years back, I had an epiphany.  I was asking others to be generous - even sacrificially generous, yet I had never stopped to reflect on my own generosity.  Now, it happened to be around tax time, so I took a look at past tax returns and those itemized charitable deductions.  And, honestly, I was a bit ashamed.  I myself wasn’t giving freely.  I was asking others to give freely, but I was unduly withholding.  From that year on, I have set a goal to give freely and there has been much joy as a result.   

When we give, we are also seeding generosity in our organization’s culture and into the staff around us.  We are showing our colleagues that we care about their work. That is an opportunity to refresh them. It shows confidence in the hard work of the staff and volunteers.  To the frontline and back-office staff, it shows that we are grateful for the daily and sometimes mundane routines of running the office that allows our mission to happen. To the program staff, it encourages them to continue into their work. When we give, we are less worried about asking.  As the quote stated, one person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but ends up impoverished.  When we give first, our fundraising campaigns become less about the ask and more about the opportunity for others to join in that beautiful space of generosity.

This work has entered the public domain.

To explore fundraising coaching deeper and to schedule an exploratory session, visit ServingNonprofits.com.

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

Transcript

Welcome back. This podcast isn't about fundraising best practices or techniques. It's about the deeper wisdom of the beautiful space where generosity occurs, a weekly five-minute reflection to ground you for the week ahead. 

A part of any campaign is the waiting.  We wait for a donor to join us in that beautiful space called generosity.  In that space is both the donor and us, you and I. If we are asking donors to be generous,  what should we doing?  This week, I’m reading a quote from the Jewish wisdom on generosity from Proverbs 11. 

The wisdom begins. 

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but ends up impoverished.  A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

End quote. 

As we wait for donors to join us in that beautiful space of generosity, our hearts must be transformed by generosity as well.  As a consultant, my work has been to teach nonprofits on how to encourage generosity from their donors.  Several years back, I had an epiphany.  I was asking others to be generous - even sacrificially generous, yet I had never stopped to reflect on my own generosity.  Now, it happened to be around tax time, so I took a look at past tax returns and those itemized charitable deductions.  And, honestly, I was a bit ashamed.  I myself wasn’t giving freely.  I was asking others to give freely, but I was unduly withholding.  From that year on, I have set a goal to give freely and there has been much joy as a result.   

When we give, we are also seeding generosity in our organization’s culture and into the staff around us.  We are showing our colleagues that we care about their work. That is an opportunity to refresh them. It shows confidence in the hard work of the staff and volunteers.  To the frontline and back-office staff, it shows that we are grateful for the daily and sometimes mundane routines of running the office that allows our mission to happen. To the program staff, it encourages them to continue into their work. When we give, we are less worried about asking.  As the quote stated, one person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but ends up impoverished.  When we give first, our fundraising campaigns become less about the ask and more about the opportunity for others to join in that beautiful space of generosity.

Let’s reflect on two questions this week:

As you wait for donors to respond to a campaign, have you given to the mission you serve?
How are you leading this week in your daily life with the intention of generosity in your own life?

Share this podcast if you enjoy these five-minute reflections and subscribe to receive these reflections released every Monday. If you like this podcast, please rate and review it in your favorite podcast app. To explore fundraising coaching deeper, visit Serving Nonprofits dot com. See you next week.