The Perfect Time for the Imperfect Time
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
This last November, like thousands of other Americans, I found myself sitting in an airport hotel after my flight was cancelled due to the government shutdown. My frustrations with delayed travel, however, paled in comparison to the plight of some 42 million Americans whose food assistance was held hostage in this political showdown. Both withheld SNAP benefits and furloughed federal staff (like air traffic controllers) were part of a strategy of inflicting pain in hopes that people blame “the other side” when they can’t travel or their kids go hungry.
During the shutdown, we also experienced off-year elections that clearly revealed people’s top concern: being able to survive in an economy that makes it harder and harder to make ends meet—an economy that devalues the worker and ignores people’s suffering.
While sitting in the airport hotel after a season of successful capital campaign kick-offs, I thought of the folks we work with, who care well for their people and are extending that care to the wider communities caught up in these struggles. I’m struck by a phenomenon that defies all the negativity that’s swirling around, One that it’s become impossible for me to ignore: These folks are succeeding despite the state of the economy.
“There is never a perfect time. No advantage in waiting. If you are going to do it, then do it.”
Their success flies in the face of what many believe is common sense. Starting with campaigns as far back as the COVID shutdowns, communities we work with have registered concern about the economy they’re attempting to raise money in, cautioning that giving might be down and they might have to wait until things “calm down” or “even out.” Wee see, however, that cascading crises are not slowing down, but picking up.
We at Vandersall Collective always begin any capital fundraising work we do with what’s called a feasibility study. So when we’ve heard these concerns, we’ve encouraged people to listen to their communities before making a decision either about moving ahead or waiting for that “better time.” These studies invite feedback on potential plans and monetary goals. They also elicit opinions and perceptions of societal factors like the economy. In our particular methodology of feasibility studies, we encourage participation from all giving members or a particular community. In our work with nonprofits, we solicit opinions from all donors. This can set us apart from some other firms who only go to the top donors; we believe that all opinions are important to solicit for the health of the community, just as all gifts make a difference in a successful campaign.
Time and again, those we’re working with have found, as one participant said in a recent survey, “There is never a perfect time. No advantage in waiting. If you are going to do it, then do it.”
In our work, we set measures of success that go beyond meeting financial goals, and we’re finding that the communities we’ve worked with are exceeding all of those measures. These expanded measures range from learning new skills for fundraising to deepening volunteer and community engagement, to articulating liberative theologies of money and transforming money narratives (the way they think and talk about money), and frankly, having fun and deepening connections among themselves. They’re proving time and again that fundraising does not have to be a drudgery but can instead be an energy-gathering, roof-raising experience towards a vision of the world where justice and joy may clasp hands.
Waiting for a flight to get me closer to the east coast, I look back at the fall and the incredible success of our clients: loving, vibrant faith communities. They are all reaching their goals, if not exceeding them, and in their reaching, they are being transformed.
Here’s one quote sent to me after one of those energy-gathering experiences we helped to create, filed away for a rainy day (or flight delay): “This truly has been a transformational experience for all of us — even our intrepid faithful skeptics! They are less verbal about it, but I know they are amazed and grateful that the promise of what we sought from partnering with you all actually is being realized.”
The time is indeed now for communities to provide opportunities to channel their giving toward what they value the most: actions that provide meaning, and tangible human support in times of hardship. Beyond our spiritual beliefs, and the arc of history that shows us that great strides are often made in the face of difficulty (which ain’t nothing), there is very little out there on an institutional level that provides hope and trust more than working together for a shared sense of meaning and purpose. Showing care for all in the community builds the trust that in turn inspires folks to entrust financial resources to those communities so that we can do something new together.
The world isn’t going to get any steadier, and some might say that the perception of steadiness has only been there for those of us in places of privilege in the first place. We show up for each other, despite it all, believing in hope when the forces around us are doing their best to thwart us from this bold act. Fundraising – pooling our individual resources for the betterment of the community – naturally comes out of this. In giving, people focus their generosity and are able to experience agency and hope.
