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“The smartest people know what they don’t know.”

I had that drilled into me some three decades ago by a mentor. He practiced this every day, listening carefully to others’ views, thoughts and opinions. He surrounded himself with people who “are smarter than me…at least in one area.”

Many of the nonprofits we work with find themselves in a unique and delicate situation: they are changing or replacing a beloved historic building to make way for a new facility. While their reasons are sound – greater accessibility, lower maintenance costs, more efficient operating costs – it can be difficult to balance respect of the past with the needs of the future.

I received this lovely donor gift at a recent charter school event. A 4^thgrade student, Marcus, had selected the word “Seasons” and then used his creativity to paint his representation of what the word meant to him.

How much time do you spend on employee issues? Hiring, orienting, training, mentoring…cumulatively, I bet it is a lot. Sitting in a CEO’s office recently, he recounted all his challenges with development staff: “We recruit, orient, train and then BOOM! They’re gone!”

A relatively common concern among nonprofit executives and development directors is that their board members are reluctant to ask for money.

Recently, I was speaking with a new client about their case for support. One of their primary concerns was how to distinguish their organization’s work with seniors from “the competition.” They identified their competition as other local retirement and assisted living facilities.

One of the more interesting trends we’ve noticed in capital campaigns is a shift in leadership structure. Instead of individual chairs, we’re commonly seeing co-chairs, tri-chairs, honorary chairs and more. While this may seem like a suspect idea at first – if everyone is in charge, no one is in charge – it turns out to work really well in this critical volunteer capacity.

“I hate asking for money!” That’s the refrain we often hear from volunteers and staff alike, especially at the beginning of a campaign. I even heard it from Dr. Ed Miller of John Hopkins Medical School… someone who raised $2.2 billion during his tenure.

Listening to author Chimanmanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” I was reminded of a trap that I often fall into while researching donor prospects.
Through web searches, wealth screenings and giving histories, I begin to develop a profile that guides my assumptions, strategies and engagement plans. From my research, I begin to understand who the donor is and how he or she might connect to a given cause.
Or do I?
As Ms. Adichie points out, when we base our perceptions of a person from limited data and knowledge, we are in real danger of building and perpetuating their “single story.”
Please don’t misunderstand me. There is great value in prospect research to understand giving trends and capacity. My point is that capacity is only one part of the donor engagement formula. Understanding a prospect’s interest is most often the key to unlocking the potential of a deeper connection.
In fact, the most effective way to better understand someone is to visit with them, ask questions and listen! Too often we think we know someone by his or her reputation or public image. Sometimes we simply define someone by their net worth, occupation or past achievements. We fall into the trap of the “single story.”
If you want to truly understand your potential donors, seek to know them beyond their single story. Bruce Berglund, President of Donor By Design, often asks people when he meets them to share their life story from birth to today in 5 minutes. While people are initially surprised by this question, they spend the next 5 minutes (often longer) sharing the many facets of their life journey, including their passions, dreams, victories, disappointments and lessons learned.
Those stories tell us so much more about what inspires, motivates and compels a donor than a simple glimpse at their giving history and net worth ever could.
If you want to go deep, push beyond the trap of the single story.
Watch this powerful TED Talk for yourself:

Seth Godin recently sat down for an interview about fundraising. At Donor By Design, we’ve always enjoyed Seth’s writing and applied many of his thoughts to our work,* but it was extra special to have him turn his attention to one of our favorite subjects.