Fostering an Abundant Mindset
As we begin a new year — and a new decade — it’s as important a time as ever to evaluate our current mindset. Because fundraising depends on relationships, it is essential that we are aware of ourselves. Over the years, I’ve found the more I understand about myself, the more I can show up across the table from a donor or a Board member, and pay close attention and listen clearly and openly to them.
So, in addition to tactics and strategies, goals and measures of impact, your ability to do your job as a fundraiser requires that you believe you deserve funding, you are worthy of receiving, and anything that gets in the way of believing in the possibility of funding needs to be set aside.
Mindsets and Behavior
In 1988, Dr. Carol Dweck first presented a research-based model to show the impact of mindsets. She showed how different mindsets lead to different patterns of behavior:
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Fixed Mindset
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Assumes our intelligence and ability are static givens
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Assumes success is the affirmation of our inherent intelligence
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Avoids failure at all costs as a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled
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Growth Mindset
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Focuses on development and learning
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Thrives on challenge
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Sees failure as a springboard for growth and stretching existing abilities
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In the same way, it is important that we as fundraisers understand scarcity and abundance mindsets:
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Scarcity Mindset
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Zero-sum paradigm of life = if someone gets a big piece of the pie, it means less for everyone else
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Sense of worth comes from being compared to others. Someone else’s success, to some degree, means their failure.
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Abundance Mindset
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Deep inner sense of personal worth or security
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Results in the sharing of prestige, recognition, profits and decision-making. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives and creativity.
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Your Mindset’s Impact on Fundraising
There are several ways your mindset or unconscious beliefs about money might be affecting your fundraising efforts:
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Not confident: You approach solicitations without confidence — and therefore overlook asking for a specific amount from a donor — letting the donor determine how much they can or want to give.
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Get just enough: You have a “just enough” mentality which hinders your organization’s ability to grow, scale and expand.
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Undervalued: You undervalue the impact you and your organization are making and make lower asks that you need.
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Inadequate: You feel inadequate around people with a lot of money and undermine your confidence to make an ask.
Shifting Your Mindset
If any of the above sound familiar, you need to work towards shifting your mindset to achieve different results. So, how can you transition from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset?
- Be aware: Become aware of your mindsets, or unconscious beliefs about money, and explore how they might be undermining your efforts.
- Question: Question your beliefs around money — especially if they are defeating or undermining you.
- Envision: Intentionally envision or revise your philosophy around money/fundraising towards one of sufficiency and abundance.
- Plan: Create a Fundraising Plan with these things in mind.
Getting Started
Once you’ve assessed your mindset and made some adjustments toward abundance, it’s time to start planning. A Fundraising Plan is an opportunity to design and co-create with your Team, your Board, your senior Leadership, and even sometimes your Donors. This is a path to get you from where you are to where you want to be.
As you start your plan — or if you are in the midst of planning and feeling stuck or overwhelmed — take some time to assess your inner resources, and find colleagues around you who can help!
If you think I can be helpful, please consider setting up a free consultation call with me.