Claim OwnershipReflections on Generosity
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© 2025 Reflections on Generosity
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Kick off your week with a 5-minute reflection on generosity to ground yourself as you go about your fund development tasks. Each reflection includes a question to ponder throughout the week to aid your work.
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"Thenceforth they are no longer isolated individuals, but a power conspicuous from the distance whose actions serve as an example; when it speaks, people listen...." This week, I’m reading selected quotes from Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville. Published in 1835. Note: his use of the word association is our current word for nonprofit. Reflection questions: How are we sharing the impact of the causes we serve? In sharing our impacts, are we welcoming our communities to un...
"....The Stage which was not for low Farce design'd, But to divert, instruct, and mend Mankind." This week, I’m reading from the play The Modern Husband by Henry Fielding, published in 1732. Reflection Question: There are times when stress is only relieved with a bit of dark humor. How will you gather with your community of friends and colleagues to laugh in the face of the absurdities we face in our fund development work? Reflection on the Recorded Quote: There are days that if we are ...
"...Where there is quiet and meditation, there is neither worry nor dissipation...." This week, I’m reflecting on Of the Virtues putting Vices to Flight by Francis of Assisi, first published in English in 1906. Reflection questions: Which virtue do you want to cultivate this week? Complete this sentence, This week, I want our donors to know and feel... Reflection on quote: As I record this week’s reflection, there continues to be so much upheaval for nonprofits. How we respond matters...
"...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts;..." This week, I am reflecting a quote from George Eliot’s Middlemarch, published in 1871. Reflection questions: When you feel caught up in the uncertainty of this time, what are a few acts of love and kindness that you can do? When was the last time you brainstormed small ways that donors can be involved as a partner with the mission you serve? Will you take time this week to do that?Reflection on quotes: Last wee...
"...God blesses those people who make peace. They will be called his children!..." This week, I am reading the words of Jesus and His approach to opponents from Matthew 5 and 6. View the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon about Enmity and Fundraising Letters from July 7, 1995. Reflection questions: If you were to give your fundraising appeal to an opponent to read, how would they respond? Would the letter be consider fair? Considerate? Even loving? When you are speaking with a do...
"..No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” This week, I’m reading a story from Aesop’s Fables, titled the Lion and the Mouse as told sometime between 620 and 564 BC. Reflection question: What kindness can you give to a donor this week? Reflection on quote: It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the relationship with donors is only about asking or thanking. A donor gives, and we thank them and report back on the impact their gifts has. Yet, relationsh...
"...How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straight away!..." This week, I’m reading from Give, an essay from Anne Frank, published in 1959. Reflection questions: Pick a task on your to-do list this week and imagine your colleagues in other nonprofits doing the same task. What impact does your combined efforts have on your community? Where are you lacking in courage? To whom can you turn to receive support in that area? Re...
"...It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong person stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better...." This week, I’m reading from Citizenship in a Republic, a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910, changing the word man to person. Reflection questions: Are you second-guessing yourself or letting criticism steal the joy of giving donors the opportunity to be generous? Is there an area where you simply need to let go and remember tha...
"...Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Waiting, then, is not passive. It involves nurturing the moment.." This week, I am reflecting on selected quotes from Henri Nouwen from the The Path of Waiting, published in 1995 and Bread for the Journey, published in 1996. Reflection questions: When you are meeting with donors, are you listening with full attention and waiting with the donor to discover more about themselves? Think about the areas where you are wait...
As you know, this podcast highlights the transformative beauty of generosity. I will be taking a brief break until January 6, and in the meantime, I encourage you to reflect on the role of generosity within your own holiday traditions. As I consider the myriad of holidays during this season, I am reminded of the universal themes of generosity and connection that they all share. Yet, in the flurry of holiday preparations, it's easy to overlook the simple but profound gift of giving that is at...
"...Therefore one should not cease from planting. Rather, just as he found, one should still continue to plant even though he is old..." This week, I’m a story from Midrash Tanchuma Kedoshim 8:1, written sometime between 500 to 800 AD and published in 1885. Reflection question: How will you plant seeds for fund development programs, like legacy giving, that take longer to see the benefits?Reflection on quote: Recently, I have been assisting my clients with starting legacy programs; that is...
"...In the same way, as you are unable to take care of all of your fellow people, treated as the luck of the draw when the time and circumstance brings some into closer contact with you than others." This week, I’m reading a quote from De Doctrina Christiana by Augustine, published in 397 AD. Reflection questions: Is there an area of your work where you need to step back and apply this framework: accepting our limits, focusing on what we can do, and releasing that which we can’t do or...
“Whoever practices charity and justice fills the world with loving kindness.” This week, I’m reading quotes from Sukkah 49b about tzedakah. Reflection questions: How are we giving donors that vision of repairing the world through their gifts?What are ways that we can practice tzedakah with donors? That is, practicing justice, peace, and loving kindness with donors instead of just receiving donations from donors?Reflection on the quote: This week, I’ve been reading about tzedakah, the...
"...that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road..." This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD. Reflection questions: Is there a response from a donor that you need to stop giving too much weight to and instead put it in its proper place, thank the donor, and continue with your good work?Reflection on quote: One of my clients got the letter this week. You know the ...
"...When we have decided to accept, let us accept with cheerfulness, showing pleasure, and letting the giver see it, so that he or she may at once receive some return for their goodness..." This week, I am reading a quote from On Benefits by Seneca the Younger, published in 59 AD. Reflection Question: What is one thing you can do this week to let your donors know that you see their gifts and they are welcome to belong to your mission?Reflection on Quote: Seneca describes a number of atti...
"...When we have decided to accept, let us accept with cheerfulness, showing pleasure, and letting the giver see it, so that he or she may at once receive some return for their goodness..." This week, I am reading a quote from On Benefits by Seneca the Younger, published in 59 AD. Reflection Question: No matter the donor or the donor’s motivation, how are you and I receiving gifts? What is the attitude of our hearts? Reflection on Quote: When we look back over the last few months, what has...
"...A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed...." This week, I’m reading a quote from the Jewish wisdom on generosity from Proverbs 11. Reflection questions: As you wait for donors to respond to a campaign, have you given to the mission you serve? How are you leading this week in your daily life with the intention of generosity in your own life? Reflection on Quote: A part of any campaign is the waiting. We wait for a donor to join us in that beaut...
"...For with wisdom cometh patience, And with patience cometh rest..." This week, I am reading the poem The Hardest Time of All, by Sarah Doudney. Written in 1896. Reflection Questions: Where are you waiting for some major change to occur as a result of your work? Is it time to gain more wisdom or to be more patient or to stop and rest in that area? Will you take the time to document your hopes for change in the coming year and then schedule an email to send that reflection to your...
..."An association [nonprofit] is an educated and powerful body of citizens which cannot be twisted to any person's will or quietly trodden down,..." This week, I’m reading selected quotes from Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville, published in 1835. Note. His use of the word association is our current word for nonprofit. Reflection questions: Are you getting caught up how national events affect the nonprofit you serve? Will you instead reflect on ways your nonprofit...
"...the potentially world-changing and life-giving power that may be present in or working through the goodness of the donors' hearts and souls; if only someone would acknowledge it, call it forth, and nurture it!" This week, I am reading a quote from Growing Givers’ Hearts: Treating Fundraising as Ministry by Thomas Jeavons and Rebekah Burch Basinger. 2000 edition. Reflection questions: Where are there areas that we are failing to recognize the world-changing and life-giving power that res...
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