“You will find as you look back upon your life, that the moments you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”

—Henry Drummond

I discovered my passion for fundraising when I was in kindergarten in Evanston, Illinois. My oldest sister had just gotten the lead role in the school play, but there wasn’t enough money to buy costumes or sets because of a budget crisis. I saw how heartbroken she was, so I went to my teacher and asked if there was anything our class could do to help. Turns out I wasn’t alone in wanting to support the cause, and I’ve often found since then that when you take a stand for something you believe in, it inspires others to follow your lead.

As Goethe once said, “Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.” The entire kindergarten class ended up selling chocolate chip cookies and lemonade outside our school every afternoon, and on weekends, until we’d raised enough money to support the play. Our actions inspired the rest of the school, including the PTA and Board of Education, to step up and look at how they could solve the budget crisis. At just five years old, this was a life-altering experience for me; it ignited my passion and helped me realize that fundraising is an act of love. We were a bunch of children who couldn’t read or write, add or subtract, but we could fundraise with homemade cookies and lemonade! I remember thinking how amazing it was that, out of an act of love for my sister, we were able to solve a problem and help turn the tide for the whole school.

This first experience with fundraising taught me that it took commitment and courage to raise money. Ever since, I’ve seen it as an act of love and affirmation. We all know that giving is an act of generosity, and often love, commitment, and vision; but I think that asking also taps into a very powerful part of the human heart. To me, fundraising is sacred—it’s holy work, and I’m privileged and honored to do it. Fundraising enables people to move their resources toward what they really believe in. It’s how we shift people’s relationships with money, showing them it can be used to empower and inspire us to be the best people we can be, while nourishing others around us.

At this time in history—the first decades of the 21st century—one of the greatest things we need to come to terms with as a species is our use of resources: the earth’s resources; human resources; and, of course, financial resources. We need to recognize that we’re at a critical juncture, where until we learn to live within our ecological means, we won’t learn to live within our economic means. We need to look at how to move away from overconsumption, destructive causes, and depletion of the natural world, and reallocate resources toward our highest commitments, allowing them to nourish our lives, and the health and well being of all humanity. Fundraising is how we can, and are, doing this. Every time you raise money for a cause you care about; every time you cultivate or steward a donor; and every time you make an ask, you’re taking a stand for the just, equitable, and sustainable world we all dream of.

As fundraisers, when we ask someone for money, whether it’s online, in person, or through a letter or phone call, what we’re actually doing is saying to that person: “I see you. I see your heart and your generosity. I see that you have a vision, and that you care about the world. That is why I am asking you to help.” You aren’t trying to manipulate people—you are affirming them. You’re inviting them to leave our planet in a better state than we found it. As fundraisers, our job is to listen to who people really are and then to reconnect them to their courage, and to their heart. Is your cause a match for what they really care about? It’s been my experience that if an ask is done with respect and love, regardless of that person’s capacity to give, the encounter ennobles both parties and inspires us to step into our best selves.

In my workshops, I talk about the three rules of fundraising. The first rule is ask for the money. You can’t be afraid to ask. It’s critical that you are willing, eager, and completely comfortable asking people for money. You need to ask clearly and unapologetically. Be proud to invite support for a cause both you and they care about.

Rule number two is ask people who are committed and want to make a difference. Find people who want to leave this planet better than they found it. In fact, they’re all around you, every day you go about your good work. People care, and they want to be part of the solution. Your cause or organization can represent that solution.

That leads us to rule number three, which is ask everyone, because everyone is committed at some level and wants to make a difference with their lives. Your role as a fundraiser is to help people see their commitment, and then to show them a way to make a difference.

One of the most important lessons to learn as a fundraiser, is that it’s OK to ask people and have them say no. If done with respect and love, and acknowledgment and the affirmation that people want to make a difference with their lives, every fundraising ask can open the heart and is a win for humanity. Fundraising encounters will not always create money for your cause, but regardless they can unlock something in people and help their generosity to flow in the direction that’s right for them. Often when people say no, you’ve helped them realize that they actually want to give to something else that they care more about. We’re all in this together, so it’s important you still see this as a win.

One of the other most important fundraising lessons I’ve learned is that coming from a place of need is not sustainable. In Chapter 9, Kay Sprinkel Grace shares that people don’t give to you because you have needs; they give to you because you meet needs. Crisis fundraising—especially in the aftermath of things like natural disasters—has its place, but it’s not a strategy that can lead to long-term success. Effective asks don’t come from a place of crisis or scarcity. To be successful, fundraising must be expressed as an opportunity to partner with a nonprofit to make a difference. Rather than “we can’t do this without you” or “our work depends on your support,” aim instead for the sentiment: “Who’s with us?” This way, there is dignity and respect in the relationship, and you create a partnership where everyone is pulling together to make a difference, whether it’s saving the rainforest or ending world hunger.

Another lesson I like to pass on to fundraisers is what I call the truth of sufficiency. We live in a very intense global consumer culture that constantly tells us that we don’t have enough; that we need more. Fundraising interrupts this toxic notion, allowing us to rest in the “enough-ness” of bounty and bear witness to the blessing of our lives. Fundraising helps people realize that they are sufficient, whole, and have what they need to live fulfilling lives. After all, generosity is a demonstration of abundance, both to the recipient and the donor.

Even those of us struggling to pay rent or get out of debt can have these realizations when we stop comparing ourselves to others who have more. By realizing the fullness of our lives, we can truly experience gratefulness—of the friends we have, the rich tapestry of love in which we dwell, the people who care about us, our families, the work we get to do, the health we enjoy, and more. And once we dwell in this realization, the fullness of our lives grows. I like to say, “What we appreciate, appreciates.” For me, fundraising is the opportunity to help people appreciate the bounty that they live in and share that with others. Of course, this saying also relates to stewarding relationships after the gift, since expressing gratitude and demonstrating the impact someone’s generosity enables is the surest way to secure additional support.

Notwithstanding the name of this book, thinking of yourself as a “nonprofit” fundraiser is actually a bit of a misnomer. The social sector actually generates an enormous profit—a long-term social profit for humanity, the environment, and all future life. Think about the great leaders of history: Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Nelson Mandela, and Susan B. Anthony, to name a few. The work they did is still yielding a profit today and will continue to do so for many future generations. And they were all fundraisers. Had they not been successful in raising the financial resources that were required to do their work, we would not know their names nor benefit from their movements. These leaders are your colleagues. You are following their example and working to change history. You are creating a permanent profit for society, not the kind of profit that can be spent, or wasted. This is the work you are here to do, and the world needs it.

As a fundraiser, you are not only creating profits, P-R-O-F-I-T-S, but in fact you are a social prophet, P-R-O-P-H-E-T. In other words, whatever your cause, your work aims to achieve a beautiful prophesy of the future, where things are better than they are today. This takes courage, grace, and heart. That is who you are as a fundraiser. You have the guts to garner the resources needed to shift the direction of history. And so I bow to you—and to all fundraisers—for using your courage and heart to make our world a better place in which to live. Thank you.