83: Waiting for Generosity

"...Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Waiting, then, is not passive. It involves nurturing the moment.."

This week, I am reflecting on selected quotes from Henri Nouwen from the The Path of Waiting, published in 1995 and Bread for the Journey, published in 1996.

Reflection questions:

• When you are meeting with donors, are you listening with full attention and waiting with the donor to discover more about themselves?

• Think about the areas where you are waiting, is there something you can do to nurture the donor relationship?

Reflection on quotes:

For those of us in the fundraising field, learning to wait is essential.  We wait for the right timing to ask.  We wait for donors to decide to give.  We wait for news about a grant application.  We spend a lot of time waiting. 

We wait, trusting that our work will bring about the fruit of generosity. As we wait, we are active in nurturing relationships.  We listen and wait while donors discover more about themselves and a potential connection to our cause. If we become impatient and just move onto the next new potential donor relationship, while it feel like we are doing something, in reality, we will find that the moment, that new space, is just as empty. We can’t avoid the waiting.

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

Music credit: Woeisuhmebop

Transcript

Welcome back. This podcast explores the wisdom of generosity, from ancient to modern, and the beautiful space where generosity occurs.

For those of us in the fundraising field, learning to wait is essential.  We wait for the right timing to ask.  We wait for donors to decide to give.  We wait for news about a grant application.  We spend a lot of time waiting.  So this week, I am reflecting on selected quotes from Henri Nouwen from the The Path of Waiting, published in 1995 and Bread for the Journey, published in 1996.

Quote. 

“A waiting person is a patient person.  The word ‘patience’ means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.  Impatient people are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else 
and therefore want to go elsewhere.  The moment is empty. But patient people dare to stay where they are. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Waiting, then, is not passive. It involves nurturing the moment, as a mother nurtures the child that is growing in her womb.”

Nouwen goes on to describe why waiting with a person matters.

Quote.

“Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking our words more seriously and discovering their true selves.”

Unquote

We wait, trusting that our work will bring about the fruit of generosity. As we wait, we are active in nurturing relationships.  We listen and wait while donors discover more about themselves and a potential connection to our cause. If we become impatient and just move onto the next new potential donor relationship, while it feel like we are doing something, in reality, we will find that the moment, that new space, is just as empty. We can’t avoid the waiting.

Let’s reflect on 2 questions this week:

When you are meeting with donors, are you listening with full attention and waiting with the donor to discover more about themselves?

Think about the areas where you are waiting, is there something you can do to nurture the donor relationship?

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.