Oh Canada.
You may remember a statement by Trudeau ( the other one ) comparing living with our southern neighbours being like in bed with an elephant … "sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly or even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt." Many of us who work in Canada’s third sector often lament that this extends to our body of knowledge on fundraising and philanthropy.
Don’t get me wrong, we have our own share of donation data, valuable studies on public opinion giving trends and statistics for each and every fundraising method. But our understanding of what makes a Canadian philanthropist tick has been relegated to the mythology builders like Peter C. Newman and sown into many disparate news sources usually as an afterthought. Certainly one cannot trust the releases that accompany major gift announces in the press, there is only so much one can read about the desire to “give back” without wishing for the real story of how a transformational really gift came together. The story isn’t in the moment of charitable impact. It’s in the engagement of charity and donor where the goal and gift are aligned.
Finally, The Philanthropic Mind is a book that is current, Canadian and certainly didn’t disappoint. The people who provided content for this book have contributed to the nations biggest projects at universities, hospitals, in the arts and all other sectors. They run the gamut of classic patrons, the civic builders to the new philanthropreneurs and disruptors shaking up the sector and the way we think about giving. This book is not free of controversy, you will disagree with a lot of it, some of it is distasteful to asker and giver alike. And that’s because it’s a whole whack of the truth – which is why you are going to want to buy it.
What I found really interesting is that the authors had a fresh take on who and what a fundraiser is, it's who is asking - from a donor perspective this is true. This is a strong statement on stripping away the ego of the asker and studying what works.
There are overarching themes around the distaste for weak prospect research although it will be an insightful read for those in the research sector as there is a whole chapter on this topic. The candid thoughts from some massive names in giving who are often the “target” of this research ( and make no mistake that word is viscerally felt by them too often ) provides some valuable insight for charity executives on how to navigate a conversation where you have done your homework. The words in this book will give you comfort in how to respect what is in 2016, table-stakes to walk in a room with a billionaire but to still leave a lot of room for listening and diving past “giving history” to the dialogue of what inspires that individual.
Inspiration over preparation.
In this new age of data and research, one of the truly shocking themes of the book is how much major philanthropists admit they are moved by inspiration. By the personal ask and the relationship. After all the panel discussions at big conferences with these very same philanthropists who talk about overhead, impact, accountability there is still room for the beating heart in this negotiation. This should give hope to every executive director of every small charity who reads this book. The battle is not over, the VP Advancement of your location university has not cornered the market – you always have a shot. This book is proof and provides a roadmap backed up by dozens of stories.
What is fascinating is that this isn’t a text-book like so many practical publications in Canadian fundraising. It’s for philanthropists as much as charity insiders, a mutual conversation to help us all work better together. Several fundraisers and charity leaders I’ve spoken with have used the words “it’s a gift to the sector”.
This book is like a membership in the most exclusive private club. It will provide fascinating insight into individual philanthropists and even family strategies for protecting themselves from asks and the art of saying both no and yes. Very few fundraisers will ask Seymour Schulich for a gift and even fewer young philanthropists will get to meet him. But reading his approach to navigate the charitable giving system to make sure his gift investments have minimum bureaucratic attrition and maximum academic and social impact has been talked about for years but never been so transparently shared.
The architecture of the ask
Working in the sector I have observed the dangers of ego on the part of both fundraiser and philanthropist. This book contains some healthy “real-talk” on this subject and a good reminder that it’s easy to say no to a staff person you don't know but when a peer, a mentor comes to you it’s a lot harder to say no. Fundraisers and marketers won't like to hear it's not only their work telling compelling cause stories that closed the deal it was the highly personal ask that pushed the result from a few hundred thousand to a million.
I’m glad the authors did admit and transparently share that as much as donors want to admit that marketing “doesn’t matter”, it grudgingly plays and important role in this decision making process. Working for Canada’s largest digital charity myself, I was thrilled to hear titans of the previous century actually respect the value of the internet and online information for their research.
You`ll also find in the book, dissent and scandal. Many of the stories of asks gone wrong, insults made and offense taken will indeed scandalize those from the sector and I almost worry will only further build the mythology of ‘the obnoxious fundraiser’. But you can’t have a real conversation without looking at the good and bad and I have to really give the authors credit for not just telling the scandalous stories but as they are themselves a tenured expert marketer and strategist they have so kindly shared what lessons we should all take from these garish interactions and common mistakes. There are again lessons here for leaders of charities big and small.
Unpacking the alchemy of passion.
Passion! One of the most overused words in the philanthropic sector. Follow your passion, be passionate about causes, inspire passion in your donors, capture the passion in those you serve. If this research project was worth anything it is the systematic breakdown of the elements of the ask that create inspiration in a donor and what confidence our organization can give them to move from decision to donation.
One of the great elements of how passion is formed is a solid chapter on getting one’s hands dirty. What is the value for a philanthropist to get involved? How do charities strike the right balance of offering access and still maintaining control and autonomy. Several other fundraisers who read this book shared with me that this chapter will help them in showing their own boards and leaders that this is a major trend in what is an entrepreneurial general who doesn’t “give and go away”. They want to be partners and like the Dragon’s Den and Shark Tanks of the world, they have experience, insight, connections and access to other capital that will help solve problems and open doors we never had access to before.
Why read this book? The payoff is powerful.
Running a charity is hard; great leaders lose a lot of sleep over keeping the lights on and supporting not just those served as part of the mission but providing decent work for what is now a big part of the Canadian economy and represents millions of jobs. There isn’t a lot of time to think about the strategy of asking. Bottom line, there are nine pages that summarize all the wisdom gained in the interviews, discussions and engagements of these nation builders and world-changes. These pages are what makes this book a must-read for charity executives, board members and campaign teams who want to gain that magic insight into pitching major donors. And it`s a short read so this won`t be another book that ends up sitting on your nightstand.
Now, there is already a fair bit of criticism of the book from some people I know have read it. Yes, it’s a book about major gifts that has a fairly one dimensional cultural and gender perspective. But it’s certainly a start in the right direction and of big value to anyone thinking about their own impact and to those who live and work in this sector. This is the start of something great in service of better philanthropy and how we serve future great philanthropists.
Paul Nazareth is VP Community Engagement with CanadaHelps.org, Canada’s leading charity that brings together charities, donors and advisors online. He has worked with charities big and small, as a philanthropic advisor with a bank and now with thousands of charities across Canada. Paul is Chair of the Humber College Postgraduate Fundraising Program Advisory Committee, teaches fundraising with Georgian College and is a national instructor with the Canadian Association of Gift Planners. Find him on Linkedin or @UinvitedU on Twitter.
