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Part 3, The Three Deep Desire That Drive Philanthropy — Transcript

by Susan Axelrod · 5,272 words · 769 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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  1. 0:02How can charitable organizations build a
  2. 0:04sustained culture of philanthropy?
  3. 0:07Jim Langley, president of Langley
  4. 0:10Innovation, says, "Speak with your
  5. 0:12donors and listen to what they have to
  6. 0:15share." In this video series, Jim shares
  7. 0:18decades of expertise and his commitment
  8. 0:21to helping institutions develop the most
  9. 0:23effective strategies to build broader
  10. 0:26and more lasting communities of support.
  11. 0:29If you're a fundraiser, tune in now.
  12. 0:32Every video with Jim is a master class.
  13. 0:37Hello friends. Every video with Jim is a
  14. 0:42master class indeed. I'm Susan Axelrod
  15. 0:47hosting this threepart video series with
  16. 0:50Jim.
  17. 0:52It has been extraordinary to have a
  18. 0:54conversation about a simple construct
  19. 0:58and simple things that you can do if you
  20. 1:01are a fundraiser, a board member, a
  21. 1:04nonprofit leader to really begin to
  22. 1:08capture and regain connection with your
  23. 1:12donors. I am delighted to bring Jim back
  24. 1:16into the studio with us. Hello, Jim.
  25. 1:18Good to see you. So good to see you
  26. 1:20Susan. Great pleasure to be with you.
  27. 1:23>> It's really been a quite a conversation.
  28. 1:26This conversation started with a simple
  29. 1:29kind of casual uh interview that we did.
  30. 1:33I invited you when I saw that you were
  31. 1:35quoted in the New York Times and I
  32. 1:37wanted to have a conversation about that
  33. 1:40as we have discussed earlier in this
  34. 1:42series. But since we've been uh having
  35. 1:46this conversation about really donor
  36. 1:50connection as humans, I really have felt
  37. 1:55uh quite a deepness. And even though I
  38. 1:57follow you, I've been learning from you
  39. 1:59for years. I feel such a rich uh
  40. 2:03opportunity for myself as a coach, a
  41. 2:06consultant, a donor myself, uh a person
  42. 2:09who cares about purpose and the fabric
  43. 2:12of our society today. So I want to
  44. 2:15really thank you for your ability to
  45. 2:18synthesize and as you have said in this
  46. 2:21series to crystallize uh these
  47. 2:24constructs that have come from your
  48. 2:25decades of experience and um we'll get
  49. 2:29started today.
  50. 2:31Thank you so much Susan. There is a
  51. 2:32goodness in us there. It is universal. I
  52. 2:35think if we understand these desires, we
  53. 2:38feed them, we will find far more
  54. 2:40satisfying careers and we will advance
  55. 2:43the purposes that we hold dear.
  56. 2:46Believe
  57. 2:48believe in something
  58. 2:51to belong to something.
  59. 2:54These are the the ideas, the deep
  60. 2:57desires that we have spoken about so far
  61. 3:02and I wanted to just invite you to take
  62. 3:05a moment not to recap everything. People
  63. 3:07can watch the two videos uh the part one
  64. 3:10and part two but I want to ask you uh
  65. 3:14before we get into the third part today
  66. 3:17what has come up for you about our
  67. 3:20discussion?
  68. 3:22Well, it's so helpful to have someone
  69. 3:25with fresh eyes come into the discussion
  70. 3:28and indeed some of your synthesis and
  71. 3:31crystallization has been very helpful to
  72. 3:33me. You've summarized points that I
  73. 3:35think are very important for our field
  74. 3:38to know. But I've also felt as I'm
  75. 3:41expressing it with you through your
  76. 3:43guidance, Susan, that I am speaking to
  77. 3:47something that's very important, that's
  78. 3:49very helpful. I feel very much in the
  79. 3:51moment and feel as if not that it's
  80. 3:55about me, but that I am a vehicle. The
  81. 3:58body of experience I've acquired, what
  82. 4:00I've been allowed to see and learn is a
  83. 4:03vehicle. And I'm feeling that as I share
  84. 4:05it with people, it's incredibly
  85. 4:08meaningful for me. It seems to be the
  86. 4:12summary of what I've been about for so
  87. 4:15long and it seems to be coming together
  88. 4:17with greater clarity for me than ever
  89. 4:20before.
  90. 4:22>> I mean, I'm smiling a bit. I looked back
  91. 4:25at my notes because um in our other um
  92. 4:30video you talked about uh the wisdom of
  93. 4:33a 21-year-old who said how we ourselves
  94. 4:39will be impacted while we are impacting
  95. 4:43another.
  96. 4:45>> And I said to you then, oh I wonder what
  97. 4:48Jenzer said that. And you said it was
  98. 4:52Ben Franklin.
  99. 4:54And you just literally spoke out that
  100. 4:57thesis from hundreds of years ago that
  101. 5:01as you gift out, give, share, uh I call
  102. 5:05it your wisdom that you have gleaned and
  103. 5:08gained, you're having a a reciprocal
  104. 5:12experience yourself, aren't you?
  105. 5:14>> It's profound. I am. So I am
  106. 5:17experiencing exactly what I was sharing,
  107. 5:19right? I feel the better for it. I feel
  108. 5:22as if I'm learning and then I feel this
  109. 5:25intergenerational connection which I
  110. 5:28think philanthropy has been very much
  111. 5:30about that what we call progress social
  112. 5:33progress is each generation trying to
  113. 5:37leave the next generation at least as
  114. 5:40much as it inherited from the previous
  115. 5:42generation and sometimes more. So if we
  116. 5:45are able to do that from generation to
  117. 5:48generation, absorb the knowledge from
  118. 5:50previous generations, refine it, make it
  119. 5:53more relevant to current and future
  120. 5:54generations, we create this remarkable
  121. 5:57chain of social progress over
  122. 6:00generations, over hundreds of years.
  123. 6:05I mean surely we know uh that organized
  124. 6:10philanthropy has been around that long
  125. 6:13and we wonder uh part of what we're
  126. 6:16doing here today is that the trajectory
  127. 6:20doesn't really look that good. Jim,
  128. 6:23you've told us I even wrote it down. You
  129. 6:25you said that um I have multiple pages
  130. 6:28of notes over here. you said at one
  131. 6:32point one in um or four out of five
  132. 6:35donors,
  133. 6:36>> you know, that we're really losing
  134. 6:39people quite quickly. And so these ideas
  135. 6:43that you actually uh give people that
  136. 6:46you your institution, your organization
  137. 6:50gives uh your donors something to
  138. 6:53believe in
  139. 6:55>> to believe in. You use the word faith.
  140. 6:58That would be faith with a small F.
  141. 7:00>> Something to believe in.
  142. 7:02>> And then something to belong to. We
  143. 7:05talked about community. Community. What
  144. 7:08is more needed today? So today we're
  145. 7:11going to get into the last part of this
  146. 7:16uh framework and I want to just bring
  147. 7:19this up and show this beautiful graphic
  148. 7:22which is simple and uh easy to remember
  149. 7:27a simple guide for a fundraiser
  150. 7:31a planned giving officer but most
  151. 7:34especially Jim a nonprofit leader a
  152. 7:37university president a hospital CEO
  153. 7:40an agency executive director. And I want
  154. 7:43to encourage you to ask yourself simple
  155. 7:48questions. What can I do about these
  156. 7:54deep desires that I'm learning our
  157. 7:57donors have? So, let's get into part
  158. 8:00three now, Jim. And that is um to better
  159. 8:05something to improve something. A deep
  160. 8:09desire that a donor have has is to
  161. 8:13better something. What do you want to
  162. 8:15say about this?
  163. 8:16>> Well, let's all think about that and it
  164. 8:18should resonate with us. I think these
  165. 8:20are universal human desires, not just
  166. 8:22donor desires. But let's reflect on what
  167. 8:25we want for our life. And that is that
  168. 8:28somehow something that we learned, we
  169. 8:30did, we acquired was useful, was
  170. 8:32helpful. That there is meaning in our
  171. 8:35being on this planet. Not because we
  172. 8:38celebrate ourselves, but because we made
  173. 8:40a difference in the life of at least one
  174. 8:42other person. That is validation that we
  175. 8:45have made a difference. So I think this
  176. 8:48is carried across human nature. We we
  177. 8:52may go through a period where we're more
  178. 8:55self-absorbed, but once we re achieve a
  179. 8:57level of security and a level of
  180. 8:59maturity, we realize that that's not
  181. 9:01satisfying to be focused on ourel and we
  182. 9:04start asking why are we here? And
  183. 9:06ultimately the answer to that question
  184. 9:08of why are we here is realized not in
  185. 9:12just a sort of philosophical rumination
  186. 9:14but when we see the opportunity to
  187. 9:17transfer something that we learned we
  188. 9:19acquired something that was given to us
  189. 9:22that we are then able to hand to someone
  190. 9:24else who finds it useful and helpful. So
  191. 9:27it's incredibly satisfying as many
  192. 9:30people know to teach
  193. 9:33to learn first and then to have learned
  194. 9:35enough to teach and to say oh now I've
  195. 9:38been able to transfer knowledge or
  196. 9:41experience to another person and I think
  197. 9:43maybe there's an even deeper
  198. 9:45satisfaction than to transfer
  199. 9:49to others whatever it is we've acquired.
  200. 9:51I think if I and I don't want to get too
  201. 9:54abstract here, but I think my the whole
  202. 9:57paradigm of how we talk about
  203. 9:59philanthropy of giving is wrong that
  204. 10:01it's really about sharing and that in
  205. 10:04the giving process we get so much out of
  206. 10:07it and I don't mean just sort of oh the
  207. 10:10thrill of giving is we've shared
  208. 10:12something something has been given to us
  209. 10:15and we know it and we're grateful for it
  210. 10:18and then it's immensely satisfying to
  211. 10:20turn around and share that with other
  212. 10:21people. I don't think it's about giving.
  213. 10:23I don't think we should ever ask anybody
  214. 10:25to give. I think we should talk about
  215. 10:27sharing. As you give, so will you be
  216. 10:29given right? You will get so much out of
  217. 10:33this if we do it right. So once once we
  218. 10:37start to realize that that this is
  219. 10:40ultimately that the joy in human
  220. 10:43existence comes from the sharing, then
  221. 10:45we see these wonderful, beautiful
  222. 10:47philanthropic stories and paradigms. And
  223. 10:50I'm going to embarrass you a little bit,
  224. 10:52Susan, because I know you lost your
  225. 10:53husband recently. And I know that became
  226. 10:56the impetus then for you doing something
  227. 10:59around for Jewish women and Jewish
  228. 11:01girls, right? So here's what I find. I
  229. 11:04find this deeply beautiful and I find
  230. 11:05you an an example of it is that people
  231. 11:09out of pain, out of loss resolve that
  232. 11:13this should not happen to other people.
  233. 11:15So they take the very loss, the deficits
  234. 11:18that life hands them and say out of that
  235. 11:21out of that wound uh as one writer put
  236. 11:25it becomes the womb of creativity. So
  237. 11:29something is reborn from the womb to the
  238. 11:33womb. And what you then do is take the
  239. 11:35pain and loss that you experience and
  240. 11:37give a gift to those who you hope will
  241. 11:41best understand it and and for people
  242. 11:44who you feel you can speak to and speak
  243. 11:46for. This is magnified millions of times
  244. 11:50in in the story of philanthropy of loss.
  245. 11:54So then being turned into a greater
  246. 11:57societal gain and gain being turned into
  247. 12:00a greater societal gain. So was talking
  248. 12:02to one gentleman years ago and I was
  249. 12:04sharing my philosophy. He said well I I
  250. 12:06don't I don't feel as if you know I I uh
  251. 12:10I lost anything. And I said who to well
  252. 12:14to whom are you giving? Who are you most
  253. 12:15proud of giving to? What what what has
  254. 12:17been most satisfying? He said well I I
  255. 12:20love to help intellectually challenged
  256. 12:21children. I said why? He said because
  257. 12:25I'm so grateful for the mind I was
  258. 12:27given. I said well you see
  259. 12:29>> you see you you you are wise enough to
  260. 12:33realize not everyone gets that gift and
  261. 12:36you were given a wonderful gift and then
  262. 12:38you have the conscience to realize oh
  263. 12:41I'm given a gift not for my
  264. 12:42glorification not for my ego boosting I
  265. 12:46was given a gift so that I would be a
  266. 12:48vehicle for transferring that gift.
  267. 12:50Right? So this is what I love is when
  268. 12:52anytime we're given something, we turn
  269. 12:54around and say,"I want to share this joy
  270. 12:57with other people." So the dividing
  271. 12:59line, if you're trying to determine who
  272. 13:01is philanthropic and who isn't, I have a
  273. 13:03simple test for you. Say to the person,
  274. 13:06"What are you grateful for? To whom or
  275. 13:08to what are you grateful?" If the person
  276. 13:11can't come up with an answer, stop
  277. 13:12trying to raise money from them. If it's
  278. 13:15all about them, if they insist they're
  279. 13:18the self-made person, which is the most
  280. 13:20absurd phrase in the in human
  281. 13:22experience, self-made, if they insist
  282. 13:25that that be the case, don't try to
  283. 13:27raise money. But watch, anybody who
  284. 13:29gives money is grateful to someone or
  285. 13:32something, to God, to country, to
  286. 13:34teacher, to something. And it's out of
  287. 13:37that, oh my goodness, I've been given a
  288. 13:39gift. and and selfish people and
  289. 13:42sometimes, you know, if I could pick on
  290. 13:43some celebrities, think they were given
  291. 13:45beauty or a shapely body or a pleasant
  292. 13:48face for their gratification when it's
  293. 13:51such a good opportunity to use those
  294. 13:53attributes to draw attention to a cause
  295. 13:56or purpose like Paul Newman did. A man
  296. 13:59with incredibly uh beautiful features
  297. 14:02that translated well to film said, "I
  298. 14:05was lucky to be given these features."
  299. 14:07and started a whole chain of charitable
  300. 14:10and philanthropic enterprise. He knew
  301. 14:13and he resolved, I'm not going to use
  302. 14:15this for my own ego boosting, but I've
  303. 14:18been given a gift. Now, let me use it.
  304. 14:20And so, he used his celebrity, his
  305. 14:22attractiveness to draw attention to the
  306. 14:25causes that he cared about. Wonderful
  307. 14:27example. So, and then if we listen to
  308. 14:30various religious leaders about where
  309. 14:31joy in life comes from, they'll say it's
  310. 14:35about sharing, about getting outside of
  311. 14:37yourself, of finding a way to help. But
  312. 14:40I don't like help. I like share. So,
  313. 14:42share something you have and you will
  314. 14:45get so much back from it, including the
  315. 14:48psychic benefit of using the attributes
  316. 14:51and the gifts you've been given to help
  317. 14:53others. And we've all been given a gift
  318. 14:56of some shape or means. So it could be
  319. 15:00positive Susan out of out of I know I've
  320. 15:02been given something. I resolve to share
  321. 15:04it. Or it could be this. I know what
  322. 15:07this pain feels like. I know what this
  323. 15:09loss feels like and I resolve to
  324. 15:12minimize that if not reduce that
  325. 15:15altogether for others. This these are
  326. 15:17the two powerful forces of philanthropy.
  327. 15:21And isn't it a beautiful thing? Now then
  328. 15:23take that and say how well do
  329. 15:25organizations seize on that and put that
  330. 15:27to its best use in this transactional
  331. 15:31dull mechanical fundraising.
  332. 15:36>> Something is coming up for me that I I
  333. 15:39would like to discuss. Um I I am really
  334. 15:42the perfect example of that. My gift in
  335. 15:45memory of my husband. It was so deeply
  336. 15:48meaningful for me. But to the point of
  337. 15:51this conversation,
  338. 15:53my um person um the organization, the
  339. 15:58CEO of the organization used my money,
  340. 16:02my gift. It happened to be, you know,
  341. 16:05money that I gave um to uh design and
  342. 16:09publish a book on in a topic that was a
  343. 16:13important to my husband, Jewish liturgy
  344. 16:15and prayer that was relevant and um and
  345. 16:19then b uh was used to improve
  346. 16:24uh the users's uh experience of praying
  347. 16:29in Jewish prayer. So the idea to better
  348. 16:33something, you know, that that people
  349. 16:35want to know that they're involved with
  350. 16:38bettering something, improving
  351. 16:40something, making a difference. I know
  352. 16:42this book will help in this case, this
  353. 16:45is just one tiny example that happens to
  354. 16:48be mine, but it's exactly in your
  355. 16:50thesis. I know this book will help
  356. 16:53people pray uh the Jewish liturgy in a
  357. 16:56more conscious uh deeper and more
  358. 16:59purposeful way for themselves. That
  359. 17:02that's it, right?
  360. 17:03>> Beautiful.
  361. 17:05Beautiful. That's it. And and so then
  362. 17:07think about do we why do we miss this
  363. 17:10when this is so present when this is so
  364. 17:12persistent? When this is the power of
  365. 17:14philanthropy itself, why do so many
  366. 17:16organizations miss it and fail to feed
  367. 17:18it, fail to nurture it, and therefore
  368. 17:20wonder why they don't raise more money?
  369. 17:22Well, you see, you've approached it all
  370. 17:24wrong. When you get to the why of
  371. 17:26giving, when you listen for the why, you
  372. 17:29you and I have always talked the power
  373. 17:31of listening, but we're listening for
  374. 17:32the why. What did life teach you? And
  375. 17:35then recently, Susan, as a validation of
  376. 17:37everything I've learned over my career,
  377. 17:39Bank of America has done another study,
  378. 17:42you know, it's done annually for the
  379. 17:43last few years. In this case, why do
  380. 17:45affluent people give? What's the first
  381. 17:48band, the first in a hierarchy of
  382. 17:51reasons for giving? Values.
  383. 17:53Transfer. They don't say that, but
  384. 17:55that's what philanthropy is. Transfer
  385. 17:57values. You're just speaking about
  386. 17:59Jewish values held by your husband which
  387. 18:01you shared which you then want to take
  388. 18:03his loss and turn into a gain for those
  389. 18:07who share those values. It's so
  390. 18:10beautiful and it happens over and over
  391. 18:12and over again in philanthropy. We don't
  392. 18:14capture it in our storytelling. We don't
  393. 18:15capture it in our fundraising
  394. 18:17literature. We don't let donors tell
  395. 18:19these stories to each other so that they
  396. 18:21feel in community. But you see it is all
  397. 18:24about this last point here about
  398. 18:27bettering from a point of where we are
  399. 18:31in life. What do I have? What do I
  400. 18:33learn? What did I learn painfully? What
  401. 18:36do I do with that knowledge? And here's
  402. 18:38this wonderful means of expression
  403. 18:40called philanthropy that I feel has been
  404. 18:43so suboptimized by such kind of
  405. 18:46sometimes obvious if not crass kinds of
  406. 18:50approaches to fundraising. Oh, we have
  407. 18:53needs, we have wants, as opposed to, oh,
  408. 18:57can we be the vehicle to take what life
  409. 19:00has taught you and to transfer it to
  410. 19:02others? And Susan, there's never more a
  411. 19:05more pregnant time than the one we're
  412. 19:08in, notwithstanding the struggles that
  413. 19:11many nonprofits have and the
  414. 19:13discouraging trends notwithstanding. And
  415. 19:15that is these baby boomers aging and
  416. 19:19will be dispersing of estates in the
  417. 19:21next 10 or 15 years. I think largely in
  418. 19:23the next 10 years, right? And we send
  419. 19:26them instruments about how to use a plan
  420. 19:30give,
  421. 19:31>> don't you?
  422. 19:33>> I know.
  423. 19:33>> And you go,
  424. 19:35>> I know. And so the phrase that you read
  425. 19:38is about how we do good work, you know,
  426. 19:40about our good work. And I'm listening
  427. 19:42to you and I wrote down um in quotation
  428. 19:46marks uh you've done good work you know
  429. 19:49to the donor
  430. 19:50>> like you've done good work here.
  431. 19:52>> Yes. Yes.
  432. 19:53>> Yeah.
  433. 19:53>> So Susan when people saw me even when I
  434. 19:55was young and it was when I was a young
  435. 19:57I was a vice president when I was 37 for
  436. 19:58the first time and I had a baby face and
  437. 20:00people didn't know I was a vice
  438. 20:01president. I was like the doogiehouser
  439. 20:02of vice president but people people who
  440. 20:06watch me said Jim there's something very
  441. 20:08parental about the way you raise money.
  442. 20:11Well, it was affirming. It was always,
  443. 20:14"Oh, look what you have done. Can we
  444. 20:16talk about how to transfer that wisdom,
  445. 20:19that knowledge, that passion, that
  446. 20:21caring, whatever it is that I saw in
  447. 20:23people?" And I was so moved by it. I
  448. 20:25didn't see that growing up. I didn't I
  449. 20:27didn't experience a lot of beauty and
  450. 20:30human nature. No condemnation of anyone.
  451. 20:33It was just sort of being in a very
  452. 20:35dysfunctional environment. And so I was
  453. 20:38so appreciative of the good, the caring,
  454. 20:40the love in people that I discovered. I
  455. 20:42started to see the best in human nature
  456. 20:44as I became a fundraiser. And that's
  457. 20:47what I was trying to reinforce is, oh,
  458. 20:49look what you have. Look at this gift,
  459. 20:52this wisdom, this insight, this passion,
  460. 20:54this experience that you have. And I'd
  461. 20:56ask people, how did you acquire it? You
  462. 20:58know, hard work, pain, difficulty. Can
  463. 21:01we talk about transferring that? You
  464. 21:03see, that's making something better.
  465. 21:06It's taking something that could be
  466. 21:08limiting to limited to your life and
  467. 21:11like the pebble in the pond create this
  468. 21:14ripple effect and it can go on. Who
  469. 21:17knows the the lasting impact of that
  470. 21:19gift you made about Jewish liturgy? Who
  471. 21:23knows in which heart, in which soul that
  472. 21:26will land 50 years from now? Oh my gosh,
  473. 21:29I literally have chills when you say
  474. 21:32that, uh, Jim, that and I want to, uh,
  475. 21:35share a story, a specific example of how
  476. 21:39this is applied because I want our
  477. 21:42listeners to hear examples. That was one
  478. 21:45example. When I was a fundraiser, I was
  479. 21:49uh working with um a community hospital
  480. 21:53and uh one of the top um corporate there
  481. 21:58was a big massive corporation in that
  482. 22:00community. One of the top executives
  483. 22:03retired and died within months of his
  484. 22:07retirement.
  485. 22:08>> They were big donors to the hospital. I
  486. 22:11knew them and I met up with his wife in
  487. 22:15grieving. Exactly as you said, the loss
  488. 22:17and so on. Long story short, um he was
  489. 22:21in charge of all the giving and the
  490. 22:22money. It was a little generational, you
  491. 22:24know, they were much older. This goes
  492. 22:26back many, many years, 30 years. And at
  493. 22:29that time, they were already older. She
  494. 22:31was a breast cancer survivor.
  495. 22:34And what I did was I helped her learn
  496. 22:38about philanthropy in this way, how it
  497. 22:42can go. not just that her husband is
  498. 22:44constantly writing checks in those days.
  499. 22:47And then she made a decision on her own.
  500. 22:50All I did was offer an opportunity to
  501. 22:54beautify and enhance the um what's it
  502. 22:57called? The breast cancer unit when you
  503. 22:59go in for your mography and all of those
  504. 23:02things.
  505. 23:03>> And she came in talk about to better
  506. 23:06something.
  507. 23:07this third part, the deep desire from
  508. 23:12the beginning to the end of what she
  509. 23:14did, including really getting involved
  510. 23:16in picking out lovely
  511. 23:19curtains and the things that you put on
  512. 23:21the gowns and so on. Um, as well as the
  513. 23:24equipment and the things that you need
  514. 23:27to make, you know, offer better service.
  515. 23:30She saw how she herself in this case, of
  516. 23:34course, they were quite wealthy, could
  517. 23:36improve, could better that one singular
  518. 23:40unit. And she thanked me over and over,
  519. 23:43Jim, like you, when you really get it
  520. 23:46right with a donor, I know without a
  521. 23:47doubt, we've never talked about this,
  522. 23:49how many donors have thanked you
  523. 23:51personally for the experience uh to give
  524. 23:55to you, right?
  525. 23:57>> Yes. Well, that is a hallmark of a
  526. 23:59successful career. I stand up in front
  527. 24:02of groups, Susan, I can't say this
  528. 24:04without being moved by it and say, you
  529. 24:07know, people read my credentials and
  530. 24:09I've been a party to raising billions of
  531. 24:11dollars for major institutions. But I at
  532. 24:14the first opportunity, I say, but the
  533. 24:16great achievement of my career in my
  534. 24:19estimation
  535. 24:21is is being asked multiple times to give
  536. 24:25eulogies at donor's funerals.
  537. 24:28That's what that's what tells me I did
  538. 24:30my job well. Not right not billions of
  539. 24:33dollars,
  540. 24:34>> but to have made the experience
  541. 24:36rewarding. But what what people said to
  542. 24:38me was in working with you, Jim, I've
  543. 24:42learned something about myself because I
  544. 24:44listened. I asked the right question. I
  545. 24:46cared. And then I said from those
  546. 24:48values, here's how you can make a
  547. 24:50difference. Right? And then when I gave
  548. 24:52the ulogies to have the family members
  549. 24:54come up and say ina my case it was males
  550. 24:57you captured his spirit.
  551. 25:01>> H that's what philanthropy can do. It
  552. 25:04can capture the spirit and can make the
  553. 25:06meaning of one life extend well beyond
  554. 25:09that lifetime. And then contrast that
  555. 25:11Susan to the ghastly
  556. 25:14strategic pillars, the categories of
  557. 25:16giving and say where did we lose the
  558. 25:19thread, this golden thread of
  559. 25:22philanthropy about differencem about
  560. 25:25taking the pain, the joy, the strength,
  561. 25:27the wisdom, anything I acquired for good
  562. 25:30or for ill and turned around and made
  563. 25:33another life better. Oh my god, people
  564. 25:35giving to people. Where did we lose the
  565. 25:38thread?
  566. 25:39I you know I wanna I have a lot of
  567. 25:42things to say but one thing I want to
  568. 25:44say is that I feel um
  569. 25:48that there are leaders listening to us
  570. 25:53and I can feel their pain and so can
  571. 25:55you. You've been there. You work with
  572. 25:57them the same way that they they they
  573. 26:00have to prove their worth, prove their
  574. 26:02value, raise more each year. Their board
  575. 26:05members raise more each year. do more
  576. 26:08each year and all those things. And I
  577. 26:11want to say unequivocally now like like
  578. 26:16calling people in, please pay attention
  579. 26:19when you apply the constructs you've
  580. 26:22learned in this three-part video series.
  581. 26:25you will raise more money and you will
  582. 26:31sustain these beautiful
  583. 26:34uh long-term loyal relationships. I want
  584. 26:38to just say the people whose family
  585. 26:41asked you to do a eulogy or someone
  586. 26:44asked you whatever uh those people
  587. 26:49felt uh in their experience with you
  588. 26:52that they uh whatever that mission was
  589. 26:54at that time you might have been working
  590. 26:56on behalf of that they believed deeply
  591. 26:59and it could feel the faith of the
  592. 27:03application. This doesn't mean an
  593. 27:04organization never gets anything wrong.
  594. 27:06I mean things happen okay you know but
  595. 27:08to believe uh in that mission impact and
  596. 27:12then that person in connection with you
  597. 27:15uh where you were literally just so
  598. 27:18moved uh here felt that they belonged to
  599. 27:22something that they belonged to
  600. 27:24something so connected okay connected to
  601. 27:28you personally but connected uh to the
  602. 27:31organization through you
  603. 27:33>> yes
  604. 27:34>> and then they felt that they were doing
  605. 27:37something. They felt that that they were
  606. 27:39improving something, that they were
  607. 27:42bettering something in the world. And
  608. 27:45you know, when it really comes down to
  609. 27:46it, it's like, what more is there than
  610. 27:50just really wanting to make an impact in
  611. 27:54the world, right?
  612. 27:55>> That that's it. I mean what more is
  613. 27:58there for whatever you attain in life
  614. 28:00whatever that is where will you find
  615. 28:03greater satisfaction than taking what
  616. 28:06has been giving you to you and sharing
  617. 28:08it with others in such a way where your
  618. 28:12time on this planet lives beyond and has
  619. 28:16a ripple effect across the realm of
  620. 28:20humanity. But where are you going to get
  621. 28:23any more joy or any more satisfaction?
  622. 28:27That's why people thank you as you were
  623. 28:28an agent, a facilitator of something
  624. 28:31that they found immensely rewarding.
  625. 28:36>> It it occurs to me we could have a
  626. 28:40special video conversation just telling
  627. 28:43donor stories. Maybe we'll invite a few
  628. 28:45other people and and just tell donor
  629. 28:48stories. Uh because my story with my
  630. 28:51husband is immediately recent. That
  631. 28:53that's current. My story with the the
  632. 28:56woman whose husband died right after
  633. 28:58retirement that was never expected. That
  634. 29:01goes back. And you have stories that are
  635. 29:04recent and past.
  636. 29:05>> Yeah. Yeah. That's
  637. 29:07>> And that's what that's what I love about
  638. 29:08being around good fundraisers is they
  639. 29:10have these stories.
  640. 29:11>> Yeah.
  641. 29:12>> That's what they're sharing with younger
  642. 29:13generations, not I raised a ton of
  643. 29:15money. I was golden tongue. They go,
  644. 29:18"Oh, let me show you. Let me share an
  645. 29:21instance where you will see the beauty
  646. 29:23in humanity." Even people that were far
  647. 29:26from perfect, that had rough spots
  648. 29:28through philanthropy found the best part
  649. 29:30of themselves.
  650. 29:33>> It also speaks to me and you addressed
  651. 29:35this in the second um the second part of
  652. 29:39this discussion. We know uh millennials
  653. 29:44uh and even all the more Gen Zers
  654. 29:47literally want this.
  655. 29:50>> Yes.
  656. 29:50>> Uh we already began to break from baby
  657. 29:54boomers to Gen Xers certainly to
  658. 29:56millennials from the you know well I
  659. 29:58give because my father gave that
  660. 30:00patriarchal you know you know chain that
  661. 30:04I just give because my parents always
  662. 30:06gave there.
  663. 30:07>> And we began to see that break. We still
  664. 30:10have some of that, but only when
  665. 30:11organizations have actually reached out
  666. 30:14to younger generations of their long
  667. 30:17term loyal donors and invited them into
  668. 30:22belong to the community in their own
  669. 30:24right. But this construct that you're
  670. 30:27teaching, boy, uh does it apply today.
  671. 30:30In the second uh video, you talked about
  672. 30:34hope and you talked about nonprofit
  673. 30:37leaders. The leadership that is needed
  674. 30:41today is retaining despite
  675. 30:45extraordinary difficulty
  676. 30:48uh is uh retaining uh obtaining some
  677. 30:52kind of hope and hopefulness. And if
  678. 30:55philanthropy isn't that space, I don't
  679. 30:58really know what is. Jim,
  680. 31:00>> I don't either, Susan. And I think
  681. 31:01that's the that is the hope for all of
  682. 31:04us is to renew philanthropy in these
  683. 31:07ways so that philanthropy gives hope to
  684. 31:09so many causes and purposes and good
  685. 31:12intentions. But what's imperiled now is
  686. 31:16trust of organizations is a feeling that
  687. 31:18it's all about money is a feeling that I
  688. 31:22don't matter to them beyond what I give.
  689. 31:24Right? So we've got to change the
  690. 31:26language. We've got to change the
  691. 31:28construct itself and and get past the
  692. 31:32short-term obsessions of fundraising, no
  693. 31:34matter how many knots there are in your
  694. 31:36stomach and start to go back to may we
  695. 31:39work with you and show you how you can
  696. 31:41believe belong and with us together with
  697. 31:44us make something better. And you and I
  698. 31:47know in the depth of our soul that that
  699. 31:50will work
  700. 31:53>> without with without a doubt. Without a
  701. 31:56doubt. Let's just let people know where
  702. 31:58they can find you and let's have you
  703. 32:01share one more word on this um donor
  704. 32:04satisfaction uh satisfaction survey that
  705. 32:07you have.
  706. 32:08>> Thanks so much Susan. It's been a great
  707. 32:10privilege and a pleasure. So you can
  708. 32:12contact me at jiml langleyinovations
  709. 32:15and.com and I I'll be happy to share
  710. 32:19this survey which we think is a tool for
  711. 32:21you to apply everything that we've
  712. 32:23shared about and allow you to create a
  713. 32:25baseline from which you can then measure
  714. 32:27progress forward. How many donors
  715. 32:29believe? How strongly do they believe?
  716. 32:31How many feel as if they belong? How
  717. 32:32strongly etc. etc. Every year you'll be
  718. 32:35able to measure whether you're on the
  719. 32:37right track. If you build a community of
  720. 32:39more belonging, believing, and
  721. 32:41bettering, fundraising, and philanthropy
  722. 32:44naturally follows from it. If you don't,
  723. 32:46you're going to continue to struggle. If
  724. 32:48I could, Susan, I want to add one
  725. 32:50caveat. If you want to write me and ask
  726. 32:52me to give you the instrument, I won't
  727. 32:54do it. If you ask me to help you apply
  728. 32:56it, if I believe that you will use it
  729. 32:59for the right reasons, if you're willing
  730. 33:01to take just a little bit of training,
  731. 33:03then I'll be happy to share the
  732. 33:05instrument with you. But I've had too
  733. 33:07many bad experience where something
  734. 33:08people grab it off the shelf and use it
  735. 33:11in exactly the wrong way for short-term
  736. 33:15fundraising needs or even manipulation.
  737. 33:18Let's not do that. We're too good. This
  738. 33:20field is too important. This field is
  739. 33:21too noble. Let's together find a better
  740. 33:25way of doing everything we've talked
  741. 33:27about. It's what you want in your life
  742. 33:29to believe, belong, and better. It's why
  743. 33:31you choose the jobs. It's the hope you
  744. 33:33had for the job you took. So, let's
  745. 33:36extend this to others, including our
  746. 33:38donors. And through that shared set of
  747. 33:42love and caring, we'll form better
  748. 33:46communities that will be more self-
  749. 33:48sustaining. And thank you Susan so much
  750. 33:51for there's something about you that
  751. 33:53just electrifies my imagination and uh
  752. 33:57allows me to open up and share with
  753. 33:59other people.
  754. 34:01>> Well, it's absolutely my pleasure. Thank
  755. 34:04you for showing up. I appreciate it. And
  756. 34:08I will just say the last word which is
  757. 34:12the work of philanthropy done well is
  758. 34:16among the most human and meaningful work
  759. 34:19there is.
  760. 34:21Believe in something, belong to
  761. 34:24something and make something better. I
  762. 34:28can't thank you enough for this for
  763. 34:30myself and you know everybody I'll use
  764. 34:32it with. And um yeah, we'll do it again
  765. 34:35soon. Jim, thank you.
  766. 34:37>> Nor nor are I you, Susan. So, thank you
  767. 34:39so much.
  768. 34:40>> Take good care.
  769. 34:42>> Byebye.

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