It’s been a very difficult few weeks here in the U.S. We’ve experienced violence in ways that many of us might never have imagined. Lives have been lost; dreams have been shattered, and it seems folly to have hope for a brighter day ahead.

So too other parts of the world are experiencing great challenges. Violence is not exclusive to the U.S. it is a world-wide issue.

What is a fundraiser to do in such challenging times? I would proffer that we have the opportunity to be harbingers of hope. Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers, once said:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” Fred Rogers

When I penned my e-book Fundraisers Channeling Fred Rogers this quote didn’t leap to mind. However, if you are a fundraiser you are a helper.

Yes, I know that your ED or your board might not understand your work. You face the hurdles of competition, donor fatigue, and burnout. You wonder if you can continue on (and not all fundraisers do as per my friend Jennifer Harris’ recent comment posted in the Chronicle of Philanthropy:

“We walk into organizations that, in our mind, are designed to do good,” says Harris, whose consulting group, the JH Collective, is based in San Diego. “There’s an assumption that the people working there are also designed to do good. And that’s not always the case. Organizations don’t always value their employees.”

The discussion, she says, should be “a lot bigger” than whether it’s inadequate leadership that leads to stress, burnout, and turnover.

“In our field, the boundaries are blurred between our head and our heart,” Harris says. “People who are called to this work have a higher calling to purpose. And when it stops functioning, it’s a betrayal. What I see in so many clients is this heartbreak, because they care about the mission.”

And ultimately, she says, “What makes someone leave is feeling like they can’t deliver on the mission.”

All this said a supervisor once said to me “we are doing god’s work.” You may not be religious or believe in a god, but you are, as the great Jerry Panas might have said, in a position to raise funds to change and save lives.

And you don’t just change the lives of those that your organization serves. You change the lives of donors. Remember you may be a harbinger of hope as much for a donor as for a client of the nonprofit that you serve. Like you donors seek to believe in a brighter, better future. When you are working to meet a mission that matches their hopes and dreams fading hope can be rekindled.

If you need some inspiration here are 45 Quotes from Mr. Rogers which was posted by Inc. yesterday. If you need people to talk with reach out to others we’ve trod the paths and are willing to listen and assist.

Most of all, don’t lose heart, you are a helper, someone who can be a harbinger of hope!

Recently a client organization was preparing to recommend to its board the creation of a loyal giving society. While preparing for that conversation I came across a thought that stopped me in my tracks. The idea could be positioned in this way:

“When thinking about donor loyalty who is being loyal to whom?” 

(Thanks to Jay Love, co-founder of Bloomerang, for mentioning this concept in his book 

Stay Together: How to Encourage a Lifetime of Donor Loyalty)

Do you think about what it might look like from the donor’s perspective to be thanked by your organization, one to which she has given, maybe for decades?

What might acknowledging her loyalty look like if you flipped the focus of the thank you?

It would mean first acknowledging each and every gift in a timely manner if you are not already doing so.

Then take this idea and apply it to the opening sections of an acknowledgment letter. Would you want to receive a letter containing this opening line?

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