Give Until it Feels Good
I will listen to almost anything that Kelly Corrigan puts out into the world. I discovered her in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and have a core memory of listening to the audiobook version of her more “Tell Me More” while drinking rose and crying into the gnocchi I was attempting to make in my teeny, tiny kitchen. I have since listened to and/or read (often both) all of her memoirs, subscribe to her podcast Kelly Corrigan Wonders, and would give almost anything to sit down with her over whatever beverage she wants to have a face-to-face conversation. But I digress…
One of the things I love about Kelly is that she has worked in the nonprofit space. Her understanding of empathy and generosity is evident in her conversations with guests on her show. I love how she navigates difficult topics and finds common ground so people can have dialogue instead of debate.
In a recent episode of her podcast, she interviewed Chris Anderson, the genius behind TED talks. His new book about infectious generosity sounds incredible. At its core, the concept of Infectious Generosity is that “small acts of thoughtfulness spread to change lives.”
As someone who has spent her career in philanthropy, this concept resonates with me. Throughout my career, I’ve had so many people ask me how I can possibly ask people for money all day or if I only care about big dollars or if we feel like we’re taking advantage of people when we ask them to support a cause. None of that is true.
If we’re doing our jobs right as fundraising professionals, we’re inviting people into an opportunity - not just asking for money.
I’ve seen the life-changing impact that a small gift can have on a donor or a recipient. (Ask me sometime about the most meaningful gift I’ve ever worked on… you’d probably be surprised to hear that it was for $6!)
And, in my experience, most donors genuinely love giving away money to make an impact. I’ve always appreciated the adage "give until it feels good” and that’s the philosophy I’ve taken into my work. When we operate from a perspective of abundance instead of scarcity, and acknowledge that there are thousands of causes that people could choose to support - and plenty of money to go around to make an impact on all of those causes - we can find joy in philanthropic work.
Over the years, I’ve loved helping other professionals examine the barriers that get in their way to find that joy and abundance when working with donors. And I thrive on helping people communicate the big vision for their organization that inspires generosity. Fundraising doesn’t have to be scary. In fact, it shouldn’t be scary at all! If you want to talk about how you can change your mindset or the culture of philanthropy in your organization, let me know.
But first, give Kelly’s podcast a listen. As she says in the description for the episode, this an one for anyone who is looking for inspiration. And you’ll find it in abundance in this 45-minute conversation.
(And if anyone wants to do a book club to read and discuss the Infectious Generosity book, let me know that too!)
