Is The Generosity Decline Real? What To Do!

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PART 1
Are Americans Become Less Generous? What the Latest Research Tells Us. This piece by Roger Craver of The Agitator-DonorVoice is sobering, to be sure. It’s based on the recently released Generosity Commission Report. There hasn’t been such a broad-based report in the social benefit sector since 1975! And the news is not good.
Here are the facts:
The news is not all bad though, especially if you consider the power of philanthropy to not only solve shared problems, but to also give those engaged in giving and volunteering connectedness, purpose and joy.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help facilitate philanthropy.
Simply wringing your hands about things outside your control is useless.
Paying attention to things you can control is smart.
One of the reasons people keep doing what they’ve done before – even though it’s not working as well as it did – is status quo culture. And, to paraphrase famed management guru Peter Drucker, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” No matter how detailed and solid your strategy is, if the people executing it don’t nurture the appropriate culture, your projects will fail. The human factor matters.
For far too long, fundraising has been about taking (“hitting people up,” “twisting their arm,” asking the board to “give ‘til it hurts.”), not giving. It has focused on money, not outcome. Not love. Not the joy that comes from giving.
I was recently exposed to the philosophy of Ikigai. The word translates, more or less, to “life purpose.” The book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life shows how when people find meaning, they find joy. To me, it’s not that different from the writings of Victor Frankl, the Holocaust survivor who wrote about the quest for meaning being essential sustenance for those who survived.
TRUTH: You may be complicit in the generosity decline if you’re not actively being generous with your donors. Part of your job is to help them find the meaning they seek. And this can be as simple as holding fast to the Golden Rule – a simple concept, central to most religious faiths, yet too often not consciously practiced by nonprofits when dealing with donors. From wherever you derive your inspiration, think more about the quest for meaning in your work with supporters.
Pick up a copy of Jay Baer’s excellent book, Youtility, about marketing that cuts through the clutter via help, not hype. Think about the myriad of things you can give to your supporters to make their lives better. This should be a central part of your social benefit sector mission.
TRUTH: You may be complicit in the generosity decline if you aren’t including donor needs in your mission. The more you focus on helping, the more others will want to help you – and you’ll feel better too, which means positive energy all around.
As the saying goes, “a rising tide raises all boats.” Don’t see yourself in competition for resources. You and your colleagues in the sector are comrades. You’re on the same team! If someone isn’t excited by your mission, but you discern a passion for something one of your contemporaries does, by all means make an introduction. Hopefully they’ll do the same for you as the occasion arises.
TRUTH: When you stop stressing what sets your organization apart from others, and think more about what connects you, you’ll contribute to a culture of abundance. Work together! Create community. It’s something else, in addition to meaning, most all human beings seek. And it’s the only way we’re going to boost philanthropy overall – and solve today’s most pressing problems.
In Part 2 of overcoming the generosity decline, we’ll get specific with concrete strategies you can use to speak to the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s constituencies – while also meeting your own.
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