The Little Words Mean the Most

To a trusted ED of a beloved regional community foundation asking for a speaking date

 

[To him; could have been her; could have been any pronoun....]

 

The best I can say is this: in theory that date works (and thank you for the invitation). It's open on my calendar, in other words.

 

Honestly? I haven't done an in-person presentation since early 2020, March. I was leaving Scotland after a 2.5 day masterclass on the banks of Loch Ness; Simone was at my shoulder, making things SO much easier. We all knew something was odd because the big Chinese delegation had cancelled at the last minute. Suddenly they were forbidden from traveling. Simone and I flew back to the States, on small planes, then bigger planes.

 

Within two weeks the real news hit front pages: global viral deadly pandemic.

 

In the year previous, I'd done 36 presentations, mostly live. Simone was doing the same. Airplanes every 2 weeks for us.

 

In 2020, after we returned from Scotland, I did ZERO in person. Her, too.

 

[To him/her/regional foundation:] I'm not out of practice exactly. Today, for instance, I did a 1.5 hour webinar with a record crowd from 8 countries re: cases for support ... then answered audience questions for another 2.5 hours, alongside a guest expert. So, yeah, I still practice ... just not in person, in breathing distance, since March 2020.

 

Being in front of a live audience is different ... and better!

 

What I hope you'll garner from this wandering confessional: times have changed; I've changed; my dear beloved mainstay Simone died in the meantime; and maybe the rail gauge I run on now, at age 75, isn't what you need.

 

In case this sounds TOO desperate, I have a great, international expert, mid-50s, to recommend: [first name last name], who lives near you. She's a top copywriter; works internationally ... and has at least one current [nearby] as a client. And she's nice. And patient. And SUPER-well-informed (as you can discover for yourself from her blog).

 

Just saying,

 

Just ended one of THOSE phone calls: Look, I know I'm a 3rd-tier author

 

This latest firm's basic promise:

With our PR, we'll boost your book title from an also-ran to a top-seller.

I get these calls from time to time, as one does. I've published more than a half-dozen books of various kinds ... as one does when you can't stop talking.

ALL my books are also-rans. Wander into Barnes & Noble looking for my stuff? You'll be talking to customer service.

My 6-or-so I'm-relatively-proud-of how-to books speak to a limited target audience of front-line fundraisers and NGOs. My uninhibited memoir about my dad has had almost no sales (though it got one stellar review). Earlier fiction attempts by me, the chump, trying to hit in Major-League Baseball? It's a bloopers reel ... at best.

How's your writing career going?

Don't stop.

 

What happens when a new career star equipped with Post-It notes encounters a (hopefully) helpful how-to book

 

 

Thank you, David Stamps....

 

 

Talking to my doc

 

As Ashley refers to hers, Dr. Kane is AKA "my paid best friend," seen every Monday at high noon; a grief counselor; and heck knows how many muskrat-chewed bones I'd be right now without him

[why I cancelled this week's session]

 

Doc: Things are going alright, actually. By current benchmarks, anyway. (Thank you; take credit.)

 

But I'm deep into working (and it's just past 9 AM) ... and don't want to drive to Providence.

 

Interesting development: Romania called [yeah, I had to look it up on my globe, too] ... they want me to keynote their national fundraising conference. These ex-Soviet states have moved big time into what's called the Third Sector (nonprofits trying to deal with local problems). Russia has one of the fastest growing "third sectors" on earth. Putin sees them as dangerous to him, of course.

 

Anyway, please forgive me for cancelling this Monday. I'm just going to stay home in Foster and work my little heart out ... then go back to bed.

 

One mental breakthrough maybe: I switched tense.

 

I'd been saying as I slammed pillows, "Simone, you were the greatest gift in my life."

 

This morning I reworded: "Simone, you ARE the greatest gift to my life." Felt a glow: Simone is my future, not my past.

 

 

My working definition of donor-centricity

Let's try this one more time.

Someone asked what I thought. The reply: "Retention depends on 3 things: asking, thanking, reporting. Asking means we grab them by the shoulders and share spit. Thanking means we reach into their chests and shake their hearts profoundly. Reporting means we adopt them and explain their family obligations and joys."

Key word: retention.

In other words, technically speaking, with all the research and results left in (and politics parked at the door), donor-centricity is about retention, hence greater Lifetime Value (LTV). Ken Burnett's book on Relationship Fundraising forecast the immense potential when a charity focuses on LTV. Key researchers, Dr.s Adrian Sargeant and Jen Shang --- bolstered worldwide by many fundraising practitioners willing to take a chance on a different way of talking --- proved the point: donor-centricity (technically defined) increases giving, often reliably doubling contributions within a fairly short period of time (18 months?).