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 in the right mindset for capital campaigns. Each reflection includes a question to ponder throughout the week to aid your work.
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"... In light of the science, inviting someone to give is really inviting them to tap into these biologically rooted joys of generosity..." I am reading from Neurogiving. The Science of Donor Decision-Making by Cherian Koshy, published in 2025. Reflection questions: What stories are you telling that lead into the tours of the construction or the displays of the architectural renderings? Are you fully embracing the concept of generosity as a deeply rooted biological need for being human?Refle...
This is a "re-air," because during economic uncertainty it's important that the leader continues to communicate consistently during this year-end giving season. "...If you don’t know what harbour you sail for, no wind is favourable. Because we live by chance, chance necessarily has great power over our lives..." In our series on uncertainty during small town capital campaigns, This week, I’m reading from Seneca’s Letter 71, first published in 65 AD. Reflection questions: How trusted is the Ex...
This is a "re-air," since economic uncertainty continues this year-end giving season. "...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs..." This week, I am reflecting a quote from George Eliot’s Middlemarch, published in 1871 to ask the question, "will donor give during uncertainty?" Reflection Questions...
"...And expanding one's horizons in such ways, being exposed to new information and new possibilities in life, tends to enhance human well-being..." This week, I’m reading a quote from The Paradox of Generosity by Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson. 2014 edition. Reflection questions: What unique stories can your program staff share about the necessity of the capital campaign?How can you best include their stories in the campaign? Reflections on quote: At the Nonprofit Storytelling Confere...
"...Give, give again and again, don’t lose courage, keep it up and go on giving! No one has ever become poor from giving!.." 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 others in the campaign doing the same task. What impact does your combined efforts have on the campaign? Where are you lacking in courage? To whom can you turn in our organization or the campaign committee to...
"...More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind..." This week, I’m reflecting on the words of Cicero as weaved through several of his works, published between 89 BC and 43 BC. Reflection questions: Where you are stuck in indecision and procrastination? How can you bring confidence, hope, or trust in a good outcome to the capital campaign?Reflection on quote: Although we have seen a greater vision for generosity in the c...
"...No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted...." For some ancient wisdom about donors who don’t give, 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 who have previously said no to the capital project? Reflection on quote: Last week, we discussed building communities of donors during the campaign. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking tha...
..."It is the most beautiful, the most noble side of neighbourly love, wherein the word has fully become deed...." This week, I’m sharing quotes from The Untapped Power of Jewish Fellowships and Forgotten Approaches to Care to connect the practice of hevrot to our work in fundraising. Reflection questions: How are you "thinking in relationship" to avoid depersonalizing our donors to goals or metrics?How are you bringing groups of donors together during the capital campaign to create communiti...
"All that happens, happens right: you will find it so if you observe narrowly..." This week, I am reading a quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, written around 171 AD. Reflection questions: When you think about a failure during the campaign, how are you observing narrowly for the right things that came out of it? How are you using failures to spark deeper conversations with donors? Reflection on quote: In working with capital campaigns, it’s not surprising that I’m well-acquainted wit...
"Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs." This week, I’m reading from the Analects by Confucius, written sometime between 551 and 479 BC. Reflection questions: Is there any hesitancy among your leaders about giving first and publicly to your campaign? What are ways you can address that hesitancy?Are you willing to have the necessary conversation to ask a leader to give a gift meaningful to them or leave the Board or campaign committee for the success of the ...
"...In the struggle for existence, it is only on those who hang on for ten minutes after all is hopeless, that hope begins to dawn..." This week, I am reading selected quotes on hope from GK Chesterton. Reflection question: Where do you need to lean into the desperate, forlorn hope this week and keep moving forward? Reflection on quote: Last week, we discussed the first of two opposite errors in our campaign messaging that we can fall into. The first error is blaming others and encoura...
"...Hatred of evil should constrain you to right, not fear. When her anger is kindled by injustice, goodness changes her form...." This week, I’m reading from the Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave, written during the 1st century BC. Reflection question: If you are experiencing a funding obstacle, how are you creating a positive message for your potential campaign donors? Reflection on quote: During times of uncertainty, there are two opposite errors in our campaign messagin...
"...If you don’t know what harbour you sail for, no wind is favourable. Because we live by chance, chance necessarily has great power over our lives..." In our series on uncertainty during small town capital campaigns, This week, I’m reading from Seneca’s Letter 71, first published in 65 AD. Reflection questions: How trusted is the Executive Director or CEO among your donors and the community?Is the vision for the capital campaign being communicated clearly, consistently, and with courage ami...
"...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs..." This week, I am reflecting a quote from George Eliot’s Middlemarch, published in 1871 to ask the question, "will donor give during uncertainty?" Reflection Questions When was the last time you did a temperature check with your donors? Asked them how t...
Over the past two years, we've begun each week together with a meaningful reflection on the beautiful space where generosity occurs, paired with coaching questions designed to ground you for the week ahead. Starting next week, this podcast will take on a slightly different focus. Each reflection will center on cultivating a generosity mindset specifically for capital campaigns, complete with coaching questions to ground you for the week ahead in your capital campaign planning and work. Here...
"...had bequeath to his executors for charitable purposes his personal clothing and nought else..." This week I am re-reading "The Ethics of giving: The Ratio of Generosity to Income" by "a Drafter of Many Appeals" from the Hospital Magazine, published in 1915. Reflection question: When will you take the time to find the humor in our fundraising work through humorous videos or cartoons focused on fundraising or, maybe, have conversation with a colleague about their funniest moments in ...
"...It is not the critic who counts..." This week, I am sharing a musical version of the Man in the Arena from Citizenship in a Republic, a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910 and with original music written and performed by Deidre Corson. Reflection questions: Imagine with the ending of your current campaign will look like. What joy will you feel? How can you encourage the donors and volunteers who are with you in the arena that the horizon of joy is coming?Reflection on...
"We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous; we experience joy in the actual act of giving something; and we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given." This week, I’m reading 3 quotes from the Buddha. Reflection questions: When you approach potential donors this week, are you apologizing for an interruption or celebrating an invitation to experience joy? How might your follow-up conversations change if you viewed them as helping donors complete their joy cycle...
"...It is only the spirit of giving that counts, and the very poor give without any self-consciousness..." This week, I’m reading from Random Reminiscences of Men and Events by John D. Rockefeller, published in 1909. Reflection question: Do you celebrate and promote the generosity of Board members, especially those at the lowest income levels? Reflection on quote: I had a conversation with a colleague on whether the requirement to give to prevents lower income Board members from serving....
"...O let us live in joy, although having nothing! In joy let us live like spirits of light!.." This week, I’m reading a quote from the Dhammapada, written down in the 1st century BC. Reflection questions: First, when was the last time you stepped back to view the greater horizon of your mission? Maybe it's time to do that again—to reconnect with the love, health, peace, and joy of what you get to fundraise for. Second, think about your donors. Who are the people you could share that j...
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