Why do you believe leaders hide from funding their vision?
You have an expertise behind this.
So I'd love to hear about that.
Well, when I first got into the business of,
well, I call fund development, but at that time
it was fundraising.
There's a real reason in the two different words.
In fundraising, you're looking for how you can,
if I can use the term,
positively manipulate people to give you money.
Yesterday I got a text message from one of my political campaigns
and it was intimidation, trying to intimidate me.
We've written to you for the last 10 days,
this person's written, this person's written,
you've not responded.
Are you still there?
Are you really interested in our cause?
Well, that was just pure fundraising.
It was trying to intimidate me that I am no longer valued by them
unless I give them some money.
Yes, okay.
And that's all over the place in our fundraising season
of political campaigns.
Right.
But fundraising in its purest form is,
I'll give you something if you give me something.
So I get a blanket or I get a t-shirt
or I maybe get a special interview
with a special person on the phone.
It's all about, I'll do this, you do that,
we're happy together.
I learned in my process of developing the book content
that fundraising is really manipulative all the way around.
Wow, okay.
What I'm trying to do is help people see that they can find
and develop partners that are equally involved in their mission.
And then you treat them as partners
because they're equally involved.
It's not like I want the money and run,
I want to work with you because I'm taking your investment,
your work and putting it to work in my vision.
And I have an obligation and a responsibility
to keep you as a partner engaged and informed and appreciated.
Yes.
And long-term funding,
and that's why I changed the whole term back in the 80s
from fundraising to fund development.
The word development means steps and stages and growth.
And I want to grow with the people that support us.
And I want them to give more.
I chair a board of an organization out of the Philippines.
And our goal there is to find individuals
who will support little kids going into preschool.
But you can support a kid
or you can support a whole class of kids.
Well, the goal is to get people to support a whole class of kids.
That's 16 kids every single month, $560 a month.
I may start by getting you to support one kid.
But the partnership says it's worthy
and you can use my money correctly.
And I've got to keep them informed.
I've got to treat them right.
I've got to treat them as if they are the sponsors of the class.
I'm not. I'm just a facilitator.
Yes.
So the philosophy is very different.
And when I was working in the nonprofit sector for 35 years,
I was really working with them in their major donor area
and how you treat partners correctly
so you can build sustainable partnerships forever.