Do the Word

We were sharing in a post last week about the new AdmittingFailure.com website, the nonprofit equivalent of the confessional booth. The confessions there have prompted me to bare my own soul and share with you my own worst fundraising gaffe.

My lowest moment actually became a turning point, as I think happens to so many nonprofit execs.

It happened years ago when I was still practicing traditional transactional fundraising while serving as President of the Los Angeles Mission. We had a huge direct mail file, and we used to do wealth identifier screening and such. The screening turned up a guy who was a big wheel on Wilshire Avenue–classic major donor prospect.

So I started doing all the tried ‘n’ true moves management moves with this guy, and everything was going great–or so I thought. I ultimately scored an invitation to visit his office. I went in ready to bag my prey.

Then the guy said to me. “I know why you’re here, why you’ve been calling, why you’ve been sending me stuff, why you’re always so nice to me. It’s because you’ve done research, and you know exactly how much money I’m capable of giving to you. And your friendship is totally predicated on that.”

Er…

I had been truly pantsed. I felt naked. The guy was absolutely right. I was at a loss for words. All I knew was that now was not the right time to bust out the calendar and CD I had brought to give him.

“OK, you got me,” I said, slumping back into my chair. “But if you knew that was the gig, why did you invite me here?”

“Because you run the largest rescue mission in the world,” he said. “So I figure that means you ought to know more than I do about how to deal with homeless people.”

He then went on to explain how every day he passed hoards of homeless people on his way to work, on the freeway, on the way home, and at the gas station. He said he was happy to give money to the mission, but that still didn’t help him to be able to know how to interact with the homeless people he saw in his own life daily.

That conversation led ultimately to a lively brainstorming meeting–one that I hardly could have expected given the way our meeting had started. Instead of talking about ways that he could support the mission, we talked about ways the mission could support him as he sought to help the homeless people he encountered in his sphere of influence.

It was a seminal point in my growth in thinking as a fundraiser: Stop trying to get people to support you and instead find ways to support them as they tackle the cause in their own sphere of influence. Ultimately that approach is the best (and most genuine and appreciated) “move” we can make with a donor.

And ultimately that approach led to two books, the teaching ministry I now help to lead, and the blog you are now reading.

This means that if you use the comment space below to share your own worst failure—even the quicksand pit that may be slurping you up at present—you may be well on your way to your own career turning point as well.

Enter the confessional by leaving a reply below.

For further inspiration to bare your soul, make sure to check out Allison Jones’ own post, The Best and Worst Moments of My Nonprofit Career. My own story is there, along with those of several other similarly humbled colleagues.

Make sure to check out the all-new AdmittingFailure.com, a Canadian website where nonprofits bare their hearts in an effort to save other nonprofits from similar heartbreak.

Several really good failures have been posted so far, including one that might more aptly be titled, “The Fundraising Experience of Most Nonprofit Organizations I Have Met”:

We did not fully recognize the time constraints of the members going overseas, some of whom volunteered to run some of the short-term events.  During the summer, only one of the short-term activities was run.  The activity run, a fundraising concert, was quite successful; however, it raised only half of what we anticipated, due to lower than expected ticket sales.

The company fundraising challenge was a major component of the plan; however, it did not generate income as quickly as expected.  We failed to recognize the amount of knowledge about the fundraising challenge that would be lost as members went overseas.  Additionally, we did not recognize the amount of work still needed before the campaign would produce donations. We encountered difficultly developing the website and preparing presentations to be given at participating companies.  While work continues on the campaign, and we remain optimistic that it will provide long-term, stable income, it has yet to generate any income.

The last line is great: Even amidst failure, hope springs eternal. Charlie Brown, meet football; football, Charlie Brown.

Still, the author of that particular post works for an engineering charity, so no surprise to see that his prescription for solution is pretty detailed and well reasoned:

We have learned that before committing to supporting an overseas placement, it is ideal to have all or most of the money available.  If we do not have the money immediately available, we need to have a concrete, specific fundraising plan that recognizes personal time constraints.  We need firm commitments from those who volunteer to run fundraising activities.  We should work on increasing committed membership, allowing a wider distribution of responsibility, making activity organization easier and increasing our fundraising capacity.  Finally, we need better processes for handing over of portfolios and information as members leave the chapter or go overseas.

True, that.

So make sure to check out AdmittingFailure.com. Confess your own failure there.

And then tune into the next blog post as I confess my own.