How to practice generous fundraising

Effective fundraising is fundamentally an act of generosity. That means freely giving to donors, even when that is difficult.

When you do that, donors repay your generosity in kind.

That’s the important message at this Better Fundraising Blog post, A Generous Ego:

Too many nonprofits have a hard time being generous in their fundraising. They make their fundraising all about themselves. About their process. About their programs. About their staff. About their volunteers. About how they think about their issue. They ask the donor to support their organization instead of asking the donor to help people.

Here are some of the acts of generosity you can put to work in your fundraising:

• Cross the gap to your donors’ level of understanding.
  
• Ask more often than you think you can.
  
• Focus on your donor’s role, telling her how her gift makes a difference.
  
• Generously focus on how your donors’ gifts will meet beneficiaries’ needs.
  

These things can be difficult to do. But as with every other type of human relationship, generosity makes things better for everyone.