If you’re like me and attend webinars or conferences regularly, you’ll have heard a reference to charitable donations as a singular entity – the “pie”. It’s a metaphor used to encourage you to get the biggest piece of the pie possible. Often it is also couched using stats that demonstrate the size of the pie shrinking, and/or the number of pieces needing to be cut, increasing.
When I hear this, (and perhaps you can relate) I feel my body tense up. I physically feel the scarcity—the worry that there won’t be enough for me and that I will miss my targets.
From my reflections on Truth and Reconciliation Day, and a desire to help decolonize my tiny corner of the fundraising world, I offer these thoughts on a different approach.
A big swing
When I joined my current workplace—one that aligns strongly with my core values—I knew I had a monumental task ahead of me. The targets are big, the donor pool was shallow, and the team needed to be rebuilt. For a lot of folks, including some of my best fundraising pals, this sounded like I was taking another “big swing”, something I am known to do. I saw it as an opportunity to test my hypothesis that I could bring abundance to the work and success would follow.
Rather than start day one with worry and hard guardrails on my time, I started to explore opportunities to say “yes” to as much as I could and give space for conversations. It took more time. It also meant that I went down some dead-end paths, but something magical happened.
I realized that the pie might be finite, but if I share bites out of my piece, others will reciprocate (to overuse the metaphor!). What does that look like? It starts with trust. Trust that if you let someone in, they will reciprocate.
Translated into real life, this included me offering to mentor a new Executive Director for a small charity who works in a similar space to me. She has skills and lived experience I won’t ever have, which I saw as a learning opportunity. Instead of working to get her piece of the pie I looked for ways to support her to increase the size of her slice.
I know what you are thinking. That’s great Laura but my board/boss needs to see the value on the balance sheet! You’re right, and I am. Through this mentorship we have discovered ways to work together—to pitch collaborative programs and fundraising initiatives that, separately, we wouldn’t be able to do. Together, we can generate more revenue to help more people.
It doesn’t stop there. I am in the early stages of collaborating with a “direct competitor” for an event—one that couldn’t happen with the bandwidth that we each independently have. Together, we can lower costs and raise more funds which will help more people.
Decolonizing fundraising means bringing together those who can best solve the problem, and not assuming that a single organization has it right. We know that we can be better together. Internally, we collaborate every day, but when it comes to the success of other charities we turn away from collaboration and it becomes a competition.
What if instead of carving up the pie, we shared it in an equitable and inclusive way, and did it with those who needed our help as the first priority.
I’ve often compared myself to the character Leslie Knope from the TV show Parks and Recreation and I leave you with a quote from Amy Poehler, who portrayed Leslie in the show:
“As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”
What are your thoughts? Want to collaborate? Let’s talk! Laurachampio@gmail.com
Laura Champion is the Senior Director, Fund Development at Lumenus Foundation. She is the Founder of the AFP Speaker Discovery Series, was Chair of AFP GTA Congress in 2020, and has spoken all over the globe. She has a deep love for fundraising, learning and her one-eyed wiener dog, Mortadella.
