When you ask a nonprofit leader or exec what they need most, the response is, almost always, “more money.”
The question is: what are they really asking for?
Usually it’s some form of “money now”, as they are often living in the urgent. The smart ones know that it’s not just money today—but money tomorrow.
The answer of money today and tomorrow is easy. Relationships. Authentic relationships between representatives of the cause and the investors (read “donors”) who support the cause.
How do you grow these relationships? By aligning personal goals. Yep, “personal” goals. Investors in your cause are investing in themselves—their values, their visions. Your job is to identify the right folks whose values and visions coincide with yours.
Then—build an authentic relationship with them. What you get is much, much, more than a gift, a donation. You get the power of synergy wherein both investor and investee create something that neither could do alone.
Give friendship freely to your investors. It’s one of life’s greatest gifts.
