There are moments in your life in which you can’t help but pause and reflect…

Often, these moments mark the start of something big – like a marriage or the birth of a child. Other times, they mark the end – like losing someone you love or something you care deeply about.

September 1 will be one of those moments for me – in both of the ways I’ve just described. After almost 30 years, I will no longer be a Good Worker. The time has come for me to take the deep breath and make a big change. That’s why I’m relinquishing my share of the company and leaving its payroll.

Why?

As you may have seen in my earlier blogs and articles, people generally begin taking their own mortality seriously in their sixties. Somewhere in that sixth decade of life, we come to accept that death is real and that our time left has a limit. For me, there are simply other things I want to do while I’m healthy and smart and enthusiastic.

So, come September, I’m going to start a Yoga Teacher Training program. My goal is to teach yoga – and I’d especially love the chance to teach yoga and meditation to people who are in addiction recovery. I also want to get serious about a weightlifting program and I want to be really good at golf!

But, back to philanthropy and fundraising…

Looking Back to the Beginning

Like many Good Workers over the years, I was a client before joining the firm. In fact, I was a client twice! From the client side, I always appreciated the expertise my consultants offered. I enjoyed my consultants as people (Good Workers always try our best to be nice!). But most of all, I felt a huge degree of trust. And, as I took on a leadership position at Good Works, earning the trust of our clients became a central tenet of our culture. We also encourage our clients to in turn earn the trust and loyalty of their donors. And, like any relationship, you build trust through honesty, empathy, sincerity and consistency.

My first big lesson came not long after I became a Good Worker. And, that lesson was this: Fundraising isn’t actually about the money. It’s about the PEOPLE who give the money. Great fundraising is RELATIONAL rather than TRANSACTIONAL.

I believe that my fellow Good Workers and me innovated best practices in the sector by adopting relational major-gift type strategies (qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship) in a direct response world that was at the time very transactional (ask, ask again, ask yet again).

This relational mindset led us naturally (or so it seemed at the time) to our Iceberg Philanthropy approach to legacy giving. Simply put, we built the strategy that large numbers of middle-class annual donors can leave big bequests if their charities treat them in a way that builds confidence and trust. And, I’m proud to say that our clients have raised hundreds of millions of dollars by doing just that.

The Biggest Lesson of All

Dozens of times when I’ve spoken at fundraising conferences, I’ve closed by asking everyone in the room to stand up. I’d move to the centre of the room and ask everyone to close their eyes and keep them closed until I ask everyone to open them. When all they eyes are closed, I ask everyone to simply point at themselves. Then, I ask them to keep pointing at themselves and open their eyes and look around the room. I ask everyone to look at where everyone else has pointed.

There are always a few that point at their heads – but 99% always point at their hearts.

So this, my friends, is the biggest lesson of all. People give from their hearts much more than from their heads. Put another way, the heart creates the IMPULSE to help. Then the brain takes care of the details, like when, how and how much.

Great fundraisers focus on creating that emotional impulse because they know that once the impulse is strong, the gift will come.

And how, you may ask, do we best create this strong impulse in the heart? We create it by telling powerful, human, emotive stories. Great fundraisers are great storytellers. Whether you tell your story face-to-face, in print or digitally, if you tell it with sincerity, emotion and vulnerability, you’ll succeed.

So tell stories that move hearts. Create emotional connection. And from that connection, loyalty will follow.

And Finally, a Few Words of Thanks

And as I head for the door, I want to thank my fundraising peers past and present for all you’ve given to me. Your interest. Your trust. Your appreciation. Your smiles and laughter. And most of all, your love.

Philanthropy literally means ‘love of humankind’. We are all so fortunate to be in the love business. To encourage members of our community to be their best selves through their generosity. What could be a better gig?

So thank you for the love you’ve shown your donors. Thank you for the love you’ve shown to my fellow Good Workers over the years. And thank you ever so much for all the love you’ve directed my way. I will carry that love with me until I take my final breath. And I hope beyond hope that I’ve returned every ounce of that love back to you.

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Now that Fraser is leaving Good Works, we invite you to contact Good Works Partner Charlotte Field if you’re interested in working with us. You can reach Charlotte at charlottef@goodworksco.ca.

If you’d like to get in touch with Fraser after September 1, please feel free to call/text 613.612.4232 or email him at frasergreen@mail.com.