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The Three Deep Desires That Drive Philanthropy, a 3-part video series with Jim Langley. Part 1 — Transcript

by Susan Axelrod · 4,892 words · 759 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:02How can charitable organizations build a
0:04sustained culture of philanthropy?
0:07Jim Langley, president of Langley
0:10Innovations, says, "Speak with your
0:12donors and listen to what they have to
0:15share."
0:16In this video series, Jim shares decades
0:18of expertise and his commitment to
0:21helping institutions develop the most
0:23effective strategies to build broader
0:26and more lasting communities of support.
0:29If you're a fundraiser, tune in now.
0:32Every video with Jim is a master class.
0:38Hello and welcome.
0:41I'm Susan Axelrod.
0:43If you raise money for an institution
0:46that does good work, this video series
0:49is for you.
0:51If you watch all three, you will have a
0:54transformed understanding that will turn
0:57fundraising from a chore into an
0:59opportunity you look forward to.
1:02Is that possible? Tune in. You'll find
1:05out that it is.
1:07As a fundraiser, consultant, coach, and
1:09trainer myself of 40 years now, a
1:13program titled The Three Deep Desires
1:16That Drive Philanthropy, I was sold. I
1:19can't wait to get into this conversation
1:21so that you can begin your
1:23transformation to support the very
1:25fabric of humanity and society.
1:29How?
1:30By learning from one of the best in the
1:32business today. My guest is Jim Langley,
1:35president of Langley Innovations, a
1:37philanthropic consultancy, coaching, and
1:40training firm that helps clients
1:42understand the cultural underpinnings of
1:45philanthropy and the psychology of
1:47donors and with that knowledge to
1:50develop the most effective strategies
1:52and tactics to build broader and more
1:55lasting communities of vital support for
1:59your
2:00mission.
2:01Jim's team has engaged in extensive
2:04behavioral research that reveals
2:06remarkable insight into who gives most
2:09loyally and generously, why they give,
2:13and which practices serves as a barrier
2:16or gateway to greater giving. Not by
2:19crunching analytics, but by face-to-face
2:22and telephone interviews with thousands
2:24of donors across the country.
2:27Jim believes in deep and extensive
2:30listening.
2:31I guess that's why I call him Pastor
2:34Jim.
2:36Hello, Jim. Hello, Susan. So good to be
2:39with you. Thank you for your all your
2:40kind words.
2:41It's absolutely my pleasure pleasure and
2:44of course you know me. I mean everyone.
2:48I've learned so much from following you
2:50on LinkedIn, reading your words, and I'm
2:52delighted to bring this three-part video
2:55series to light today.
2:58So, let's get started now. Before we get
3:02into what the three deep desires that
3:05drive philanthropy are. I love the
3:07title. I want to start with a framework
3:11from your lens and experience. You've
3:15worked with some of the top institutions
3:17in North America, certainly. And I want
3:19to ask you, when you look at the
3:22industry today, what's the core problem
3:25you keep seeing? And I want to remind
3:27you, Jim, when I look down, it's cuz
3:30I'll be taking notes. Of course. So,
3:32what's the core problem that you see?
3:36I think the core problem, Susan, is that
3:38we're misdiagnosing
3:40our struggles. We know we're struggling.
3:42We know certain things that were once
3:45easier to do are more difficult to do.
3:48And let me make one share one that is
3:51very basic. When Luis Diaz and I did a
3:53state of the development survey
3:57and listened to thousands of people out
3:59there, most of them felt that their
4:01research was good, that their mission
4:03was good, that their support materials
4:05were good, right? There were There were
4:06gradations, but they were largely
4:08confident in their organizations and in
4:10themselves. But when we asked, "What's
4:12the single greatest barrier
4:14to your greater fundraising success?"
4:17They said, "Getting the first
4:19appointment." So, isn't it interesting
4:22that we can talk about all these things,
4:24AI, all this elaborate research, and the
4:28average fundraiser is finding it more
4:30difficult to get the first appointment.
4:33And it's true. It is more difficult to
4:35get the first appointment because donors
4:38are more circumspect, more careful.
4:40They're screening. They're more acting
4:42more like foundations. And I would
4:44submit to you, Susan, that the core
4:47proposition we should be faced on it
4:49facing is what are donors really looking
4:52for as they look across the waterfront
4:55of giving opportunities, as they ask
4:58themselves, "Which of these giving
5:00opportunities correspond with my
5:01values?" What is it that they're looking
5:04for? I think if we can get to the heart
5:07of that and satisfy that, then we start
5:11to build stronger communities of shared
5:13purpose. And that is where the focus
5:16should be. Not on building pipeline, not
5:19on the mechanics of fundraising, but on
5:24building stronger communities of shared
5:26purpose from which giving and
5:28philanthropy will more naturally flow.
5:32And the reason we say that with such
5:33confidence and such conviction is not
5:36only the research that you've mentioned
5:38and all the experience behind it,
5:40but this is where we know philanthropy
5:43began. We study the history of the
5:45United States and many other cultures.
5:47Where does philanthropy begin? When
5:50neighbor comes alongside neighbor and
5:53says, "Don't we need to do something
5:55about better roads, better schools,
5:57better
5:59something for our children, something
6:01better for the elderly?" When neighbor
6:04came together with neighbor and said,
6:06"Yes, let's work on this together."
6:09American philanthropy and philanthropy
6:10in many parts of the world in an
6:12organized way was born. And it was those
6:15powerful shared purposes that made it
6:18what it is. So, what we should be
6:21talking about, and I'm so looking
6:23forward to talking to you about it, is
6:25well, what happened to cause us to feel
6:29maybe it wasn't our neighbor who was
6:32coming alongside us. And maybe what this
6:34person was asking for wasn't really the
6:37world that we saw or the world that we
6:39wanted and wasn't corresponding to our
6:41hopes and needs. It sounded a little bit
6:44different. So, what we want to do is get
6:47back to what I'll call more neighborly
6:49approach to philanthropy and finding a
6:52way to tap into donors' deepest desires.
6:56And then from there, more systematically
6:59build communities.
7:02Well, I've done this with you several
7:04times, Jim, and I already know that our
7:07next conversation is going to be called
7:10The Neighborly Approach.
7:13Yeah, we're going to We're going to be
7:14talking about that, and that's actually
7:16how we came to this conversation from a
7:18generalized conversation interview we
7:21did recently. And I heard then about
7:24this teaching construct. So,
7:27the neighborly approach, gosh, I felt
7:30those words honestly, Jim. I felt those
7:32words as you said like neighbor coming
7:35to neighbor and saying basically, you
7:38know, "What do you need?" Yes. And in
7:42the nonprofit or institutional
7:46setting or structure that has been
7:48created,
7:50those words, "What do you need?" are the
7:53basis of this construct that we're going
7:55to be talking about and you'll be
7:57teaching today. Yes. And also, it's part
8:00of what builds what we call loyalty,
8:04Yes. longer-term giving because an
8:07organization would be having these
8:09conversations with people who have shown
8:12support, maybe lower-level support over
8:15a long time. But I know that you talk
8:18about long-term loyal giving is the
8:21basis of this. Yes. Yes, and I think we
8:25have this shared experience that in our
8:27career, we tried different things when
8:29we were young. But ultimately, we
8:32learned to think about what resonated
8:35first, to first think about that before
8:37we approached the donor. Or if we didn't
8:38know, to spend time with the donor to
8:40suss out what their values and concerns
8:43were. So, Susan and I eventually evolved
8:46as a fundraiser. I wasn't coming with a
8:48pitch, but with a structured listening
8:51and after listening saying, "Ah,
8:53if that's what's important to you, did
8:55you know?" And you see the difference
8:57between the pitch coming in sort of
9:00blind with a fervent pitch that may or
9:02may not land versus a listening
9:05exercise, hearing what the person thinks
9:07is important, then bringing back to
9:10them,
9:11"Ah, this I think corresponds with what
9:13you think is important." And every
9:15organization can do this. It's simply a
9:18matter of knowing which values you're
9:21tapping into and how your institutional
9:24capabilities or aspirations map against
9:26those. So, it's eminently possible, and
9:29yet I think for too long we've succumbed
9:32to this sort of Madison Avenue approach,
9:34the elevator pitch, the glossy brochure,
9:37the gala, all those things. They're fun.
9:39I understand how we went through that
9:41phase. But what we're seeing is this
9:44disoriented or disengaged donor or this
9:48very significant group of donors, many
9:51of whom have formed DAFs, which show
9:53charitable intent, but are then quietly
9:56behind the scenes going, "But where is
9:59the place where I can find meaningful
10:02philanthropy, where I can be something
10:05more than a donor, and feel as if I've
10:08made a lasting difference?"
10:10Well, this is one of those times when I
10:12call the listeners in and say, "Hope
10:14you're paying attention. Play back 30
10:17seconds to listen to what Jim just
10:19said." Because I call that money bags on
10:21the shelf. Certainly the donor-advised
10:23funds, that's one of the places it is.
10:25You just said to us, "People have
10:27created them." And we know that to the
10:30tune of hundreds of billions. And uh our
10:33job is to ask uh
10:35them, "What is their intention? What is
10:37their interest? How can we listen to
10:40them?" And I wanted to say that um you
10:43just did an if-then statement. You said,
10:47"Structured listening." Then you said,
10:50"Ah, if that's what's important to you,
10:54then did you know?" I love that. That's
10:58also giving us a clue to what um the
11:02survey instrument is that we're going to
11:04talk about later that you devised, but
11:06we're not going to get there yet. And um
11:10so, this is such an important
11:12conversation. You talked about the
11:14glossy collaterals, the galas, and all
11:17of that. But also what we got into
11:20starting in the basically
11:23late '90s into the 2000s really was the
11:26metrics and analytics. Yes. And being
11:30guided more by that than what you're
11:33talking about here in this entire
11:36construct of um the framework, what are
11:40the
11:41not how many times did you touch me as a
11:44donor,
11:45not how many times did I actually hear
11:47from you,
11:49which you know, the metric-based data
11:52that we fundraisers get judged on. But
11:55um how did I feel from my engagement
12:00with you? And so, I want to invite you
12:03to now uh begin to lay out this
12:07three-part framework that you have
12:10created, I guess, over decades of
12:12experience engaging with donors, and
12:15really is the basis of this three-part
12:17video series. Good. So,
12:21as you know, Susan, over a long career,
12:24you start to gather and analyze a lot of
12:27information. And if you hope to share
12:29it, and hope to be helpful to others,
12:31you can't go on and on and on. So, you
12:33try to kind of synthesize and
12:34crystallize what you've learned. So, as
12:37I synthesized an enormous amount of
12:39data, and as you said, lots of
12:41interpersonal interviews that I
12:43conducted, that my team conducted, that
12:45we helped other organizations conduct,
12:47you I started to see patterns emerge.
12:51And while there had been studies done
12:53about what donors wanted, many of them
12:55were at the tactical level. So, I
12:58started to say, "But at a deeper level,
13:01what's a yearning that donors have when
13:04they consider giving and continuing
13:06giving to organizations? What are the
13:08deeper yearnings?" And out of all that
13:10data, as I thought about it, I started
13:13to land on three powerful donor desires.
13:17And I believe they'll stand up to
13:19scrutiny. And one of the ways that
13:20they'll stand up to scrutiny, to those
13:22listening, is as I detail these for you
13:26and where they come from, with Susan's
13:27help, ask yourself, whether you're a
13:31leader of a nonprofit or a fundraiser,
13:34"Is this not why I got into the
13:36business, too? Is this not what I want
13:39for myself?"
13:41And I think when that realization comes
13:43to you, you'll realize what a workable
13:45construct this is. So, the three deep
13:48donor desires are quite simple. To
13:51believe, to believe in an organization,
13:53to believe in its purpose, to believe in
13:55something that's bigger than ourselves,
13:58more lasting than our lifetime. To
14:01believe, to have faith, is incredibly
14:04important to human beings.
14:07To belong, to be among kindred spirits,
14:09to be working toward common goals, as we
14:12once did in quilting bees, in raising
14:15barns, in in harvesting livestock, in
14:18bringing in crops. These were all
14:20communal activities, and it was from
14:22these communal activities that we found
14:25success and support and comfort and
14:28psychological safety and many of the
14:30things that we talk about today, because
14:31we were in community. We as human beings
14:34want to belong, and we particularly want
14:37to belong with people who share our
14:39values and purposes, and we find great
14:41joy in working toward common goals and
14:44realizing common goals. And then
14:47finally, to better. Not just to go
14:50through processes, to study, to to
14:53analyze, but ultimately to make
14:56something better. To say, "I did that,
14:59or we did that. Look at that. That helps
15:02current children, or future generations,
15:05or the elderly." To be able to say, "We
15:09uh were able to combine our talent and
15:12our forces for the good of others, and
15:15that we may benefit from someday
15:17ourselves, or our children, or our
15:18grandchildren." This is incredibly
15:21important to us and powerfully
15:23motivating to know that we've made
15:25something better. And if I could, Susan,
15:28I want to add one
15:29interesting historical wrinkle to that.
15:32That while I have studied many people, I
15:34want to respect people of all ages and
15:36all generations. I think there's wisdom
15:39at every level. And I want to share with
15:42your donors that there was a
15:43particularly prescient, remarkable,
15:46I think, 21-year-old
15:48who said this. That we form these
15:51associations of shared purposes to not
15:55only improve our community, but to
15:58improve ourselves.
16:00So that in making something better, we
16:03know it makes us better. And we gain
16:06conviction and confidence and joy. And
16:09and that prescient 21-year-old was a
16:12fellow named Benjamin Franklin, who said
16:15that about 1750.
16:18So, this thread, this thread runs
16:21through our culture, a river of purpose,
16:25of of shared determination, of shared
16:27hope, runs through. And I think when we
16:30tap back in to that source, we will
16:33revitalize philanthropy and revitalize
16:36the mission that we hope to advance.
16:40Oh my gosh, I I need to just pause here
16:42and breathe a second. I was uh thinking,
16:45"Gosh, there's another thing we have in
16:47common, and that is listening to
16:50millennials and Gen Z." And when you
16:52said a 21-year-old, and then you said
16:55Ben Franklin, I just loved that. But
16:58honestly, uh I did get chills a bit uh
17:02to think about that. And you and I are
17:05people ourselves.
17:07Uh we do the work, but we've also been
17:10involved and engaged in our own passion
17:13projects, uh putting ourselves to the
17:16task. And that's why uh we can sit here
17:20and say, uh in the elder wisdom that
17:22we're sharing today, that we understand
17:26how it feels to improve ourselves by
17:29helping to improve our community. Yes.
17:34We do. We do, Susan. And it's if you
17:37could pass on one thing about why to
17:40engage in philanthropy as a donor, as a
17:42fundraiser, as a nonprofit, is you will
17:45be better for it, and you will never
17:48find greater joy than when you know
17:51you've made a difference in someone
17:53else's life.
17:54I mean, you know Jerry Panas, uh who's
17:57gone now. Um Jerry was my one of my
18:00early mentors decades ago. He was
18:04prolific in his output uh of writing and
18:07speaking and teaching. And I I took that
18:10and ran with it myself. So, let's uh get
18:14into now the first part of the
18:17construct. This is a three-part video
18:20series. You laid the groundwork for us.
18:23I just want to add this beautiful
18:25graphic again, because since the first
18:28time that I heard you say this in that
18:31casual interview we did sometime ago,
18:35I have found uh it's such a simple, deep
18:39uh framework that I've already been
18:42sharing it quite extensively, crediting
18:44you with clients or other people I've
18:47been in conversation about. And so, this
18:51uh graphic is just a beautiful, simple
18:53depiction. We're going to start today
18:56with the first um
18:59concept, the first deep desire that
19:02people have, which is to believe. And I
19:06really feel like this is um the
19:08foundation of all of this. And there's a
19:11lot to say about it. Uh one of the
19:15things that happened in that
19:16conversation was we started talking
19:19because I heard you interviewed in the
19:21New York Times about the betrayal
19:23uh of Jeffrey Epstein and the charitable
19:26institutions and so on. And so, what
19:30just briefly, what happens when that
19:32belief is betrayed?
19:35Yeah, so that's such an important
19:37question is it it's puncturing, it's
19:40wounding to the psyche and to the soul,
19:43because at the heart of human existence,
19:46what drives us forward,
19:48even in the face of adversity, extreme
19:51adversity, is this powerful phenomenon
19:53called hope. And without hope, we don't
19:56have civilization. We don't have
19:58character. We don't have all the
20:00attributes of life that we find
20:02valuable. It took people before us and
20:05in our generation and generations coming
20:08to believe in something and in the face
20:11of injustice or difficulty or the lack
20:14of fairness or the lack of equity or
20:16even in the belief that no matter where
20:19we are, something could be done better
20:21and for the greater good of more people
20:24is this powerful social force. So, when
20:28that gets punctured, when we start to
20:30believe in someone, when we think
20:33they're doing good work and we find
20:35they're acting out of base motives and
20:38they're being selfish or and that even
20:41something worse than that, taking
20:43advantage of vulnerable people, it's
20:45puncturing because it takes away that
20:48hope. It makes us wonder about
20:50ourselves. Why did I believe in that
20:53person? Why was I fooled? Why didn't I
20:56see that? Now, good people will always
20:58recover from that and always rally and
21:00always come back. But, when when
21:04terrible misdeeds of Epstein are
21:06revealed and the the fact that other
21:09people were involved directly and
21:11indirectly and many of those people were
21:14powerful and carried very important
21:17responsibilities,
21:18it feels like out of our collective
21:21hope, a gash has been made.
21:25Is this leadership? Why were so many
21:27bright, talented people fooled? Why did
21:30they fall prey to this? Why did they
21:32turn a blind eye, right? So, it's that
21:35that really hurts us and further erodes
21:38trust in institutions and institutional
21:41leadership. And
21:42institutions, in the main, when you look
21:45at the long arc of public opinion, Yeah.
21:48can't afford any more gashes in their
21:51credibility and their trust. This has
21:53been going down for decades and here
21:55comes another gash.
21:58You know, Jim, I want to say about this,
22:00uh everything, you know, civilization
22:05uh doesn't go on if we don't have hope.
22:08Actually, when terrible things happen,
22:11it gives those of us who are conscious,
22:13aware, alert, responsible, and organized
22:17uh opportunity.
22:19And this first part of the three deep
22:23desires that donors have to believe in
22:26something, Yeah. Jim, I feel like it's
22:29opportunity waiting to happen for any
22:32nonprofit, any fundraiser working with
22:35donors uh to take the responsibility
22:38back. Uh we're seeing very intense cuts,
22:42federal cuts right now.
22:44>> seeing nonprofits are stretched and um
22:48and so we're here having this
22:50conversation to support the fundraisers,
22:53the nonprofit workers, the institutions
22:56themselves, which are, as I say,
22:58protecting the fabric, the very fabric
23:01of our communities and society.
23:04And so, we want them to breathe breathe.
23:07We want them to know we believe in them.
23:09And they have an opportunity to connect
23:12with their donors about this particular
23:15desire. Is that how you see it? I do and
23:19you you boy, you raised so many points
23:21there in in a few sentences, Susan,
23:24about where we are and where to turn.
23:26And you touched on something that I
23:28really want to, with your help, further
23:30elaborate. That
23:33this notion of hope is so central to
23:37leadership itself and to coming out of
23:40difficult and dark moments. And so, you
23:42talk about cutbacks in federal support,
23:44support for research, support for
23:46universities, support for human
23:48services, all those things that we care
23:50about, that we know are critical to
23:51making a better world. And what I worry
23:54about, Susan, is while I perfectly
23:57understand it, is outrage, condemnation.
24:00This is awful. This can't stand.
24:02All this decrying is understandable,
24:07but to to share another powerful
24:09construct that so ties into the one
24:11we're talking about, what do real
24:13leaders do? In six words,
24:17absorb chaos, project calm, give hope.
24:22That if we're going to help those causes
24:25and those purposes, we can't just decry,
24:28we have to say, "It's a shame what
24:31happened. It's a terrible shame." But,
24:34here is a ray of hope. Here is a path
24:37forward. If we just condemn and decry,
24:40we may feel good about that. We may feel
24:42victimized and we may enjoy our shared
24:45victimization like we enjoy all shared
24:48feelings. I understand it. I don't mean
24:50to belittle it, but a leader steps in
24:52and says, "But, we need a legitimate ray
24:55of hope to get out
24:57of this descending cycle." We've just
25:00lost some important societal attributes.
25:03We're losing talent in this country.
25:05It's going outside to other countries.
25:08People are returning home. They're
25:09finding more advantageous circumstances
25:12in other cultures. This is not our
25:14story. This is not our history. So, if
25:16we have to rally people, then we've got
25:19to get into that, again, that projection
25:21of hope.
25:23Think about, Susan, all the things, the
25:25lessons that we've learned in our
25:27lifetime. Mine is longer than yours, but
25:29think about what we've learned and think
25:32about who we admire and it is often
25:34those people who absorb chaos, project
25:37calm, and gave hope. Often at great
25:39personal expense and personal sacrifice,
25:42but they gave hope and that's what lived
25:45after them. That's what we were able to
25:48to latch onto. I think when we sacrifice
25:51that in the name of condemnation, we
25:54lose our way and we don't rally enough
25:56support to secure the resources to
25:59revive the very things that were so
26:02upset were taken away from us. So, this
26:04is the kind of leadership we now need to
26:06go back
26:08to where we began and this is what will
26:11then resonate with donors is the giving
26:15of legitimate hope, right? Oh, now
26:19here's someone I can believe in. They're
26:22telling me the truth. They've got the
26:24grit to rise from the ashes and the
26:27difficulty of failure and setback and by
26:31their
26:31virtual by their their commitment to
26:34what they believe in, their courage of
26:36their convictions, we start to go,
26:38"Well, maybe I can now believe in this
26:41person." And the more progress they make
26:43and the more courage they demonstrate,
26:46the more we start to believe, "Yes, now
26:49we've got someone to believe in." Or
26:52the organization they represent. If we
26:54can start to see depth in that
26:56organization, not just one great leader,
26:58but depth across the organization of
27:00people who are all committed to that
27:03mission, whether the janitor or the
27:05chief executive, if we get exposed to
27:07that kind of culture, it's
27:08that's that's who I can believe in
27:11because it's not just one leader, it's
27:13not just one mission statement. It's
27:16it's being lived out in a way there's
27:18energy to it. There's ongoing purpose to
27:20it.
27:21Throughout human history, the greatest
27:24organizations,
27:26the ones that we place the most value
27:28in, the ones that most of us adhere to
27:31the most for the longest, were the ones
27:34that legitimized our belief in them
27:38over and over and over. Wow.
27:43Jim, we're in such a contained
27:44environment. I want to stand up and go
27:46like, "LET'S GO!"
27:49WE'RE SO contained here in our little
27:51spaces, but uh in response, I could
27:54really feel uh what you're saying and I
27:58want to you know, just like call out uh
28:02to the leaders today. I know uh you're
28:06suffering yourselves as the humans you
28:08are.
28:09>> Um but, especially the way uh Jim just
28:12really laid it out, if you go back and
28:15play the last about 2 minutes, you're
28:17going to see
28:19opportunity abounds.
28:22And uh Jim, this actually um brings us
28:25uh to the second part of the framework,
28:28which we're going to talk about in the
28:29second uh video, the part two of this
28:32video series, um to belong. Yes.
28:36And that's what you literally just led
28:38to. But, before we close here, I wanted
28:42to invite you to speak about the survey,
28:45the donor satisfaction survey instrument
28:49uh that you have that we discussed. What
28:52it is and how it can be helpful,
28:54especially in this context.
28:57>> Well, I thank you for your help in this
28:59survey, Susan, and it was instrumental
29:01and I thought incredibly insightful. So,
29:04we talked about where do we go? What do
29:06we offer people listening as a concrete
29:08tool? And that would be to go to your
29:11service to your donors, to your
29:14volunteers, to those people who will
29:16form and strengthen this community of
29:18shared purpose and check in with them.
29:21And find out how strongly they believe.
29:23How strongly do they feel as if they
29:25belong and people care if they belong?
29:28And how much are we providing in terms
29:30of evidence of the bettering that's
29:32being done or have we gotten caught up
29:35in the wrong things? So, what you helped
29:38design, while I sort of provided the
29:40basic framework, is a very simple
29:43instrument that gets right to the heart
29:46of the matter, that donors would be
29:48complimented if you asked them to fill
29:50out because it shows caring for them.
29:53And that when presented with this, it's
29:55easy to fill out. I think it would be
29:57enjoyable to fill out because all of a
29:59sudden this organization is allowing me
30:01to speak to my values, to what I think
30:03the relationship is and what could be.
30:06And so I think you're going to get
30:07donors complimented. I think you're
30:08going to get them responding to it and
30:10feeling grateful for the opportunity.
30:12And as an organization, you're going to
30:14create a baseline
30:16of how many donors believe at what
30:18level, 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. How strong are
30:20those beliefs? How strongly do they feel
30:23as if they belong, 1 to 5, 1 to 10,
30:25whatever scale you want. And how
30:27strongly do they feel they're with by
30:29giving to you and through you, time,
30:31talent, and treasure, are they making
30:33something better?
30:34Then you've got a baseline. And then
30:37every year you can run a similar survey
30:39and you can see for yourselves and
30:40announce to your board, "Look, here's
30:43where we started, believe, belong,
30:44better, and we're inching up here. And
30:47because we've listened to donors and
30:49better understand these desires, with
30:52every passing year we're strengthening
30:55the believe, belong, better paradigm and
30:58we're getting closer and closer to being
31:01an ever more healthy community of shared
31:04purpose. I promise everyone here, and I
31:07think Susan, you know intuitively, if we
31:09do those things, albeit albeit
31:13imperfectly,
31:14philanthropy will flow more naturally,
31:17more spontaneously, more joyously.
31:22I I'm the example of that. I taught my
31:24own fundraising method to the person I
31:27co-founded an organization with. And
31:30guess what happened? She uses it on me
31:32and I give more. I mean, when you
31:35when you believe in something, when you
31:38believe in a mission, and this survey is
31:40so good because it's in a little bit in
31:43the feeling space, it's showing your
31:45donors that you care about them and that
31:49you're willing to listen to them. And
31:51so, when you can feel your giving, that
31:54is the best. And the way you feel your
31:57giving is to believe in something. So,
32:00Jim, we're going to bring it to a close
32:02here and now. How can people find you?
32:05The best way to find me is at
32:07[email protected]. That's my
32:09email. But I also post regularly on
32:11LinkedIn. And I I'll produce a weekly
32:14newsletter, which I hope starts
32:16important conversations. That's how I
32:18see what we're doing. So, in any of
32:19those venues, I ask you to not only join
32:22the conversation, but contribute
32:24contribute to the conversation so that
32:26we can all learn from each other and
32:28create a body of knowledge that will
32:30help all nonprofits that want to access
32:33it.
32:34I mean, honestly, I can't say how much I
32:37love following following you on
32:38LinkedIn. You know me, if I don't agree
32:42with something or part of something,
32:43I'll say it. And other people you've
32:46brought to you also do. There's
32:48conversation. There may be challenge.
32:50It's okay. We may not agree. And so, I
32:54really love that this engaged community
32:58you've created on LinkedIn.
33:00Wonderful. Thank you, Susan. All right.
33:03I'll see you next time. Take care.
33:04>> All right. Thank you.

About this transcript

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