128. How To Raise Money Without Feeling Creepy - Jenna Goodman and Nancy Jackson

Generous Change on the We Are For Good Podcast

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Overview

Meet Jenna and Nancy. When you meet two brilliant disruptors who are incredible teachers, good humans and have a heck of a fun time doing it all, it makes you want to come over and join their table - stat! They're chatting through how to remove that icky feeling from asking for money, and these native Kansans are doing it with authenticity and joy. If you're looking to shore up your training and confidence for more solicitations this year, then this episode is for you.

Today’s Guest

Jenna Goodman and Nancy Jackson, Co-Founders of Generous Change

“Ask unapologetically, because you are making amazing change happen. You shouldn’t be sorry about that. It takes money to make that change. There are people in the world who want to give money to make more change. Your goal is just to find those people.”

— Nancy Jackson, Generous Change

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Jenna and Nancy’s stories and the journey to what led them to where they are today at Generous Change - 3:38
Fundraising Fundamentals - 10:17
How to Fundraise Without Feeling Creepy - 19:59
Aha! Moments in Jenna and Nancy’s Careers - 27:01
Overview of Generous Change - 30:40
Nancy's One Philanthropic Moment - 37:44
Jenna’s One Philanthropic Moment - 40:48
Jenna’s One Good Thing - 44:13
Nancy’s One Good Thing - 45:21
Jenna and Nancy’s Upcoming Class : Raise Money - the Unapologetic Guide to Raising Money for your Nonprofit

Powerful quotes

“What I had learned was how to have really amazing conversations with people about things that matter to us both right? So creating common ground on the way to a better future.” - Nancy

“As managers, we were interacting with folks and feeling like, Oh, my gosh, how have we so underserved, these amazing mission-driven people, so that they are feeling creepy so that they're feeling apologetic? So that they're struggling with? What do I say, when I sit down with the donor? How do I even get the door open? And we realized that there just weren't enough tools to help professional fundraisers and nonprofit leaders who never meant to be fundraisers.” - Nancy

“I felt like I was supposed to have an elevator pitch, I was supposed to have a spiel, and I was supposed to be like a salesperson. What I needed was just to be an authentic human being.” -Jenna

“What's the change they want to make in the world? Who are they? How do they want to make a difference in the world? Because that's the heart of fundraising is just understanding, does this person care about the same thing I care about? Do they care enough to make a gift? Do they want to make the same change that my nonprofit is making, and that change everything? For me, this is just it's having a conversation, a heart to heart with another human.” - Jenna

“So if you go back to what Jenna said, and walk-in, ready to listen, curious thinking about what is it that this amazing, wonderful, generous donor wants to do? Where is our shared cause? Right? Then you can know how to present your work in the most compelling way.” - Nancy

“What we don't always do as great a job in is really helping the person that we're talking to fully understand and imagine the before and after, with their gift in between.” - Nancy

“Instead of walking into these interviews with shame and trepidation, it's almost like your mission is your armor. And we are so proud and emboldened to be able to do this work.” - Becky

“We are so lucky and really blessed that we get to work with the world's most generous people every day, who want to make a difference for people that they'll probably never meet. Because they just care that much.” - Nancy

“I think that for many of us, because talking about money is uncomfortable. We're talking to strangers, and sometimes that's uncomfortable. We don't want to bug people, and so we stop too early. What we want to remind all nonprofit leaders is to keep going.” - Nancy

“We assume it's so easy to take it personally and think they don't like me or they don't like us, the nonprofit or whatever the thing is, but in reality, it's just that the vast majority of philanthropists of donors, people who are giving, as you said, Becky, they're being asked by lots and lots of people, they're by definition really busy. And so we're not top of mind for them. So we just need to remember that and stay humble, but also stay optimistic and recognize they're probably just busy. Maybe they meant to send a note back but they didn't get time. Maybe somebody else listened to the voicemail and they never heard it. So keep trying both to get in the door.” - Nancy

“Once you're in conversation with an amazing person who has voted for your organization by giving right there a donor, stay in the conversation. stay top of mind stay in touch much more frequently than you probably think you should.” - Nancy

“Giving is not the only way that they can make a difference to so I think in these in-between times, there are other ways that they can open doors for you or be an advocate or be a volunteer, or all these other ways to plug in.” - Jon

“People are not offended to be asked.” - Nancy

“I thought for a long time that if I asked for too much that it would be offensive. But what I learned is that actually, I'm more frequently offended by asking for too little. And so I feel like, in many ways, my biggest realization is that people are far more generous than we know.”- Nancy

“Starting this out early in my career, sitting down with people who were super successful, and I felt like I didn't know how I was going to connect with them. what reason did I have to sit there, I was worried like Nancy, that I would offend them. And I never felt like I would know enough or be smart enough or accomplished enough to have these conversations. Until I had enough of them that I recognize that we're all just people. “ - Jenna

“When we recognized that it could help not only professional fundraisers, which we were, and the fact that it was missing from professional fundraising, meant that it was definitely missing from the nonprofit world. And so we wanted to be able to give these tools to everybody we possibly could.” - Jenna

“We talk about development, we talk about advancement, we talk about philanthropic advising, we're really asking for money. And we need to just get comfortable with the idea that money fuels our mission.” - Nancy

“Do not just send a letter of interest to a foundation, talk to your program director because program directors are some of the smartest, most generous, amazing people and they can teach you so much.” - Nancy

“Your best donors are your best donors. This means the people who are most likely to give to you are the people who already give to you.” - Jenna’s One Good Thing

“My big message is to think hard about every way to engage someone in the life of your organization when you believe that they can really make a difference for you. And then put it on your calendar, and make sure that you honor those entries in your calendar. Because that's how you build really not just sustaining but transformative relationships for your organization.” - Nancy’s One Good Thing

Four Fundraising Fundamentals:

Have a conversation
Remember stories, not figures
Ask unapologetically
Persist

Connect With Generous Change

Website / LinkedIn / Raise Money Course

Connect with Jenna

LinkedIn / jenna@generouschange.com

Connect with Nancy

LinkedIn / nancy@generouschange.com

Connect with Kelsey

LinkedIn / kelsey@generouschange.com

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