Fundraising discomfort, the role of non-profit Board members and overcoming the discomfort of asking for money.

1. DRAGON THEATRE BOARD RETREAT
LEDA KARABELA, P.C.C. LEADERSHIP COACH
WWW.YHESITATE.COM
DEC. 3, 2011
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2. Some of The Things That Make You
Uncomfortable
or
the $41 Trillion Dollar Conundrum
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3. Questions
IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY I
ASK YOU SOMETHING, THEN,
DON’T ANSWER ME!
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4. Asking for $ is like…
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5. Why?
1.5 million nonprofits survive on an average of
$224 billion per year
Can you secure the consistent, imaginative
support of board members, staff , other
volunteers in planning campaigns and asking for
money?
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6. Back to the Basics: Needs That Drive Us
Certainty
Uncertainty
Significance
Connection
Growth/Need to Grow
Contribution
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7. Perceptions
Let’s Play…
The $100 experiment
What’s at play here?
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8. What Does $ Mean To You?
• ____Survival – basic needs, food, clothing and shelter
• ____Security – adequate retirement funds
• ____Freedom of choice – greater variety in selection
• ____Pleasure – vacation, travel, hobbies
• ____Love – express affection by giving generously to others
• ____Power – means of controlling or dominating others
• ____Prestige – wealth represents approval and influence
• ____Compensation – money can be used to “fix”hurt feelings
• ____Self-development – money is used to learn new skills
• ____Independence – financially self-supporting
• ____Unimportant – money does not matter
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10. Adopting a more inclusive/open perspective
NO “I” IN TASK
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11. Random Acts
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13. Dragon & You
• Why Dragon?
• Why Now?
• How much? (Scripta manent?)
• What Are YOU willing to give TODAY?
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14. The Math
• 1X200,000
• 2X100,000
• 20 x 10,000
• 200 x 1,000
• 2,000 x 100
• 20,000 X 10
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15. Fears
• People think that asking for money is all
about asking for money
• People think that storytelling is a gift, not a skill
• Money = Power
• I’m terrified you’ll say ‘no.’
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16. The Fear and Loathing of
Fundraising
Rejection is the most common fear
"If I ask a colleague for a contribution and he or
she says 'no,' then, like the wicked witch in The
Wizard of Oz, I will melt into the floor, never to
be heard from again…."
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17. The Role of Boards
The access to funding sources
Understanding of the development process
Participation in soliciting gifts
The Board’s percentage of gift participation in
reaching goal
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18. Some Qs
• How much money is needed to fund specific productions and
services, pay for day-to-day operations?
• Which current income source generates the largest share of
income? Is that source expected to shrink? Grow? Stay the
same?
• Which income sources are the most reliable? What can you
really count on?
• Which income sources are the least reliable? What might be
“here today, gone tomorrow”?
• Which income sources, regardless of size, have the most
growth potential?
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20. The World
and You
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21. “Transfer of Confidence”
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22. Unorthodox Rx
• Positive Emotion (the pleasant life/well being)
• Engagement (did time stop for you)
• Relationships (and how we share life with other
people)
• Meaning (believing and serving something bigger
than yourself)
• Accomplishment/achievement (what you choose to
do for its own sake – without anyone forcing you to
do it).
Martin Seligman: Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being 22

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24. Acting It Out
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A BAD
GUY?
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25. Thank You!
Leda Karabela
www.yhesitate.com
leda@yhesitate.com
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