I recently spoke with the manager of a Catholic conference that aims to educate, inspire and empower her community. While chatting, she asked me how to properly train herself — and her board — to fundraise.
Their goal was to get out of what had become a ‘slump’ in their fundraising.
I am often asked, “How do I get out of my slump?” When you feel God is nudging you to ‘up your game’, do you wonder how to respond? Does it sometimes feel like the right response is to raise more funds?
Saint Thomas of Aquinas was a master at finding the right answers to the tough questions. But before he answered a question, he made sure it was the right question being answered.
When someone asks me how to get out of a slump, I rephrase their question: What should I do to boost fundraising so that I can do more for my Catholic cause?
This question is structured in a way that helps us realize what’s at stake: Your mission, which aims to save lives and souls. Time cannot be wasted drifting along with minimal expectations and results.
Here are my three recommendations for how to improve your fundraising.
Recommendation #1 – Take the time to learn
Again, I turn to St Thomas of Aquinas. For him, learning to do anything correctly – and successfully – requires investing time and resources into building your knowledge.
The Catechism agrees with St Thomas:
Human virtues acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace. CCC 1810
Since launching CatholicFundraiser.net, I’ve focused on developing content, articles, videos, courses, and workshops to help thousands of Catholics just like you with their fundraising.
If you want to learn more about my training materials, click this link and follow the instructions.
Recommendation #2 – Increase your knowledge
Knowledge – a gift of the Holy Spirit – allows us to see the providential purpose for what enters our lives. We are then able to put these things – such as donors and funds – to the right use according to God’s will.
Knowledge can be acquired from books, videos, lectures, people, and courses. This means you must actively acquire knowledge in order to put it to use. When I was studying theology at graduate school, I found that learning what the great thinkers of the Church thought – Aquinas, Augustine, Bede, Avila, John Cassian (the list can get quite long) – was the best step to deepen my understanding of who God is and is not.
With regards to fundraising, in my workshops, I teach people how to refer to different sections of the Catechism to find building blocks for structuring a donation request, (especially a major gift request).
The results speak for themselves: One Catholic apostolate that I help that is based in California and focuses on the New Evangelization. Recently, they acquired their largest major gift.
This gift that was 40x more than their average donation.
Recommendation #3 – Surround yourself with others to support your learning
To keep the learning process going and to put your knowledge into action, you must surround yourself with the right people.
The Catechism teaches:
Through the exchange with others, mutual service and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potential; he thus responds to his vocation. – CCC 1879
The best reward for surrounding yourself with great people is that you’ll save time reaching your funding targets. This saved time allows you to focus on what you really want to do: Save lives and souls.
Saint Thomas of Aquinas surrounded himself with the best of the best. Raised in Italy, formed by the Dominicans, educated in France, grounded in Greek philosophy, taught by Saint Alber the Great, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, St Thomas knew that he couldn’t do his vocation alone.
I recommend you – and those you know who would benefit – to become a member of our CatholicFundraiser.net. When you join, you’ll have access to 100’s of articles, courses, and workshops. Plus, a community of like-minded Catholics who can help you improve in your fundraising.
Question: How will you start building your fundraising knowledge?