78: To Do Good

"...that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road..."

This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD.

Reflection questions:

• Is there a response from a donor that you need to stop giving too much weight to and instead put it in its proper place, thank the donor, and continue with your good work?

Reflection on quote:

One of my clients got the letter this week. You know the letter.  You’ve sent out the year end appeal. You’ve started receiving donations in the mail. You feel very good about the generosity of the donors. Then you get the letter. It's the letter telling you that you should not wasted a stamp on an appeal letter, and that the donor wants you to remove them from the mailing list. Of course you check the database and you see that they've only given once as a very small donation. Despite all of the good work you’ve done, it's amazing how this one letter affects your day.

We don't know what is going on in the donor’s life who wrote us that letter or email. Perhaps they can only give a very small donation and they do truly feel as though you are wasting a portion of their small donation. Or perhaps they got bad news and our letter just came at the exact same time. No matter the reasoning, we have a choice in how we react. Will we give it more weight than needed, ruining our day?  Will we see it as a distraction? Will we make major changes in response to a minor criticism?  These are all possibilities. Or, we acknowledge the wisdom from the Meditations and we can put it in its proper place, thank the donor for their concern, and continue the work of giving opportunities for donors to give.



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. 

One of my clients got the letter this week. You know the letter.  You’ve sent out the year end appeal. You’ve started receiving donations in the mail. You feel very good about the generosity of the donors. Then you get the letter. It's the letter telling you that you should not have wasted a stamp on an appeal letter, and that the donor wants you to remove them from the mailing list. Of course you check the database and you see that they've only given once as a very small donation. Despite all of the good work you’ve done, it's amazing how this one letter affects your day. This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD.

Quote 

In one respect man is the nearest thing to me, so far as I must do good to people and endure them. But so far as some people make themselves obstacles to my proper acts, man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no less than the sun or wind or a wild beast. Now it is true that these may impede my action, but they are no impediments to my affects and disposition, which have the power of acting conditionally and changing: for the mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid; and so that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.

Unquote

We don't know what is going on in the donor’s life who wrote us that letter or email. Perhaps they can only give a very small donation and they do truly feel as though you are wasting a portion of their small donation. Or perhaps they got bad news and our letter just came at the exact same time. No matter the reasoning, we have a choice in how we react. Will we give it more weight than needed, ruining our day?  Will we see it as a distraction? Will we make major changes in response to a minor criticism?  These are all possibilities. Or, we acknowledge the wisdom from the Meditations and we can put it in its proper place, thank the donor for their concern, and continue the work of giving opportunities for donors to give.

Let’s reflection on one question this week:

Is there a response from a donor that you need to stop giving too much weight to and instead put it in its proper place, thank the donor, and continue with your good work?

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.