For many years I have been on the board of the Weizmann Day School here in Pasadena.  At our first meeting of the new year last week we had a speaker on the topic of fundraising.  I was skeptical, of course, but the presentation was excellent.  It was put on by Jennifer Weinstock of  PEJE (Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education) and she really had some good ideas.

My best take away was  an explanation of the apparent dichotomy between how bad it feels to ask someone to give to your organization and how good it feels when you are the giver.  She suggested that the error is in your perception of what you are doing when you ask.  You are not putting the other person on the spot.  You are giving them a new option so that they can, if they want, get that good feeling of having supported an organization whose values they share.  In this view asking for money is doing others a favor.

Another one was that board members of charitable organizations should give generously.  How much is generously?  Simple, the organization should be one of your top three charities.

And finally we worked on the idea of telling stories rather than giving facts.  People hear stories they only hear facts that support what they already believe.  We each had to write a story that we would be willing to tell a potential donor that transmitted why we were passionate about the school.  I’ll share my story in a later post.  It wasn’t the best one in the group but I have it written down and it will make you want to give.