Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.
- Deepak Chopra
NGOs, nonprofits, universities, and church organizations rely on charitable contributions to fuel their missions. They solicit gifts using a battery of processes, programs (or vehicles), and techniques. Yet I believe many of them miss significant opportunities in dealing with contributors who are passionate about their missions. That opportunity is to provide people with a sense of right purpose and belonging.
Feelings of belonging have been associated with self-reports good physical and mental health, reduced incidence of depression, and other benefits. Belonging is also one of the more basic needs as laid out by Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs; it falls in the 3rd level after physiological and safety needs. Clearly, it is not the role of nonprofits to fulfill the psychological needs of its contributors. However, these organizations must engage the passion of their contributors and receive contributions in a way that honors the gift and the giver. If these are done in an authentic way, the by-product of these interactions may be that the contributors feel received, have a sense of belonging, and gain deep satisfaction.
Lucinda Vardey & John Dalla Costa, in their wonderful book Being Generous: The Art of Right Living, discuss giving and receiving as linked with a third element in the dynamic, which they call circulating. Circulating is expansive, self-perpetuating, and affects things outside of the duet of the giver and the receiver. Please see their book if you are more interested in this concept. For the purposes of this discussion, what is most important is their concept that,
Receiving is itself a creative act.
- Vardey & Dalla Costa
The language of nonprofits often includes terms associated with belonging. These include partnerships, membership, constituent, council, fellow, giving circle, etc. This language indicates that there is an instinct in fundraising professionals to appeal to people’s need to belong, yet this may exist on an operative level only and not mine the deeper potentials of contributors bringing more of themselves to the relationship.
To receive someone, and what they have to give, is to give them belonging.
As stated in my last entry, I believe that many nonprofits shy away from allowing their contributors to engage deeply with their organization, because they fear that their missions will be set off course or their contributors will become too demanding. Some fundraisers talk about managing the donor relationship. Yet nonprofits are also hoping that their contributors will join with them in their purposes and become committed to their missions.
Joe Myers writes about belonging in his books about community and on his blog The Language of Belonging. A recent blog series of his was called Common Myths about Belonging. One of these myths is More Commitment=More Belonging and as an example he remarks that some people are committed to a marriage in which they feel they do not belong. Another myth is that More Purpose=More Belonging. He illustrates this by talking about Tom Peters and his influence on the business community to think about building common purpose communities in the workplace through visioning exercises, the emphasis on work teams, etc. As many who work in a corporate setting can attest, this does not always create a sense of belonging. So if nonprofits cannot create belonging for their contributors by just asking for a commitment and sharing a purpose, how can they?
By recognizing that:
- Receiving is a creative act dynamically linked to giving; your receiving behavior affects people’s desire to give to your organization.
- Contributors do not necessarily want an exchange or quid pro quo for their gifts; that heartfelt reception and thanks for their contributions can be profound.
- People contribute because they have something to give and also because they need something.
A nonprofit culture that allows for the possibilities in receptivity and belonging can satisfy its contributors at deep levels while also gathering fuel to realize its mission ends. This is a win, win, win situation for the organization, its contributors, and its beneficiaries.
What you need, needs you.
Anonymous
February 10th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Nkce news, gracias!