Relationships Are Recession Proof

That training that I took and learning from her as a mentor was a huge catalyst for understanding that I actually had natural gifting and talent for fundraising and understanding what good looked like, that it was really ultimately about building relationships. I didn't even realize in the moment. how being able to have conversations with people, particularly with people who have financial wealth and who are successful, that would serve me for the rest of my career.

It is an invaluable skill, and part of why non-profits struggle to be in a financially healthy status is because we are taught and socialized. that talking to people about money is rude. It's not polite to be polite. You don't talk about money, and that politeness isn't serving us in our ability to have frank, clear, concise, compelling conversations with people who have financial wealth. So this is actually.

Making it so that a recession has an even greater impact on our revenue and therefore our ability to serve our community in a powerful way than if we learned the skill of building relationships every day of the year with people who have money. Learning the skill of how to be yourself with a rich person. This is what I teach people to do inside my program. Courage Lab. How do you have human conversations about life, about legacy, about family, about what matters about values?

How do you ask powerful conversations so that you learn what makes someone. And then you can present really juicy opportunities for them to have the impact that they told you they wanna have on the world, and that you can do that with rich people and not feel sick to your stomach and sweaty and nervous and anxious. And second guess yourself and get in your head and make it about you. This is a skill that I teach people to have that becomes a habit.

and the people who are struggling to raise more money and not just stay flat in terms of revenue, but grow during down economic times, people who learn that skill can actually raise more money because. relationships can withstand the turmoil of circumstance. They know that the down market isn't gonna last. You're gonna show up for the people you love, even when times are hard. Ultimately, this is what major gifts fundraising is all about.

And some of you are struggling because you're worried about the market. You're worried. the recession that we are entering, and you're thinking that it's gonna impact your fundraising and it might, it's going to have an outsize impact. If you don't know your donors and if they don't know you, and if you don't have strong relationships, it will have go greater impact. I hope that you're getting what I'm saying to you. Some of you.

Not prioritizing building relationships with people who have money and getting to know them and confirming their alignment with your mission and with what you, what you're doing, that you don't know that you're actually on solid ground. Because if someone is committed to your mission, then it doesn't matter. If times are down, because if they're a gen generous person, it's who they are.

When they give, it's not as a result of the environment alone or the circumstance, whether it's stormy weather or it's a sunny day, that isn't what determines they're giving to. and I see so many nonprofits struggling to prioritize this because we have so many competing priorities for things that don't ultimately matter, that don't ultimately create more impact. If it serves the mission, then you should be doing it if it doesn't serve the mission.

And if you're just doing it because it's what people expect and it's what you've always done, then stop doing it. We should be doing mission critical activities and prioritizing those things all the time and eliminating everything else. This is also part of recession proofing what you're doing. When I was fundraising at the beginning of my career, All I was doing was talking to people who had already given and getting to know them, understanding why they give, because it's what I had.

do you think in a recession you're gonna be more likely to get new donors who give for the very first time or are you gonna be more likely? The people who are gonna give are the ones who've already given and they have skin in the game. They know you. They've already voted with their dollars. They've already said, Hey, be, I trust you enough to give you my money. the people who also struggle in a recession and economic times.

Not only do they not prioritize relationship building, but there's another side of this, which is entitlement. When we feel we are entitled to people's donations, we begin to take it for granted. That's why we don't prioritize building relationships.

When you take people for granted, you don't really put a lot of intention and a lot of focus and energy and thoughtfulness towards them because that's the essence of taking them for granted when you feel entitled to people's donations because you're so awesome and angelic and frankly self righteous, and you think that because you do good work that you are due.

You are sorely mistaken, and it won't be long until you don't have many donors left at all, so you won't be doing the work that you're doing. We are not entitled to rich people's money because we do good work. Did you hear what I just said? You need to get that through your head and your heart. It is a massive mistake to be resentful that you have to fundraise at.

You get to do this, you get to build relationships with donors who believe in what you're doing and are generous people who care about creating an impact in the world. Isn't that the kind of person that you want to get to know? It is truly an honor to do this work. There is no room for entitlement or ego friends. There's no room you gotta get rid of. If you're gonna make it through down economic times, you need to be humble and grateful. You need to put in more effort.

You need to find the good in people. If you are focused on how you think they're so rich, they should be giving way more. What the hell is wrong with them? Good luck fundraising. Good luck raising more money, for Pete's sake. Would you wanna donate to you if you were really rich? We gotta check our attitude, right? We need to analyze our own thinking about the way in which we feel and think about our donors. Are we taking them for granted? Stop doing that.

My recommendation to you would just sit down or go for a walk. Have a gratitude walk. Just think about the people who have given you the most. over the last 12 months, and how are you specifically grateful for that person? Maybe that's what you need. I don't know what you need. Studies show that gratitude is like oil for your brain. So if you're feeling stuck, it's likely because you are getting into entitlement and pride and you're not practic. Gratitude.

And believe me, there's nothing more annoying to me than days when my husband comes to me and says, okay, what are you grateful for? And I'm like, blah, I don't want to think of the three things I'm grateful for. And sometimes that's exactly what I need to be.

Some of you are hoping and wishing and praying, and on your knees metaphorically, or even physically praying to God, please send people who will donate because you don't actually have relationships with donors and you should be doing the work of building relationships rather than just praying. And I love prayer. I am a person of prayer. I am a deep person of faith. I have a very strong walk with God. He and I partner together in creating a lot of good, and I think that prayer is transformative.

So do not get me wrong. What I am saying is that there are things you have control over that you are not. I guarantee that if you're not raising enough money, you are not maxing out or you are not bringing your best, and some of you need to invest in your training. That was what was such a difference maker for me.

Some of you have been thrown to the wolves out in the wild with no training at all, and you think that a handful of free webinars is gonna do the trick to help you raise millions of dollars. Hello, you're running a business. Do you think that you can just run a business successfully without proper training, without constantly sharpening your skills? It's something that I do and invest in myself all the time, and I've been doing this for well over a decade. Major gifts specifically is my special.

And I still am constantly looking for ways to sharpen my blade, constantly looking for ways to grow, to learn, to evolve, to get even better, better storyteller, better communicator, better relationship building, better at stewarding donors, creating a better experience for them. It is a constant focus for. and I have a lot more experience and a lot more skill than likely the person listening So recession proof, your strategy. You need to have a strategy. First of all.

It can't just be throwing spaghetti on the wall. You can't just be randomly hoping that giving Tuesday is gonna be awesome because it's giving Tuesday and it's a quote, national Day of Giving. giving, Tuesday to me is another Tuesday, it's another day of the week, and if I have an ask plan that day, then great. It's giving Tuesday I, I'm not even reliant upon the wave, quote, unquote, of giving Tuesday because I don't need that. I actually build relationships with people.

It's like if you have a really strong marriage, Do you really need Valentine's Day as an excuse? Do you really need Valentine's Day as a tool to build stronger bond and connection and have intimate conversation and an intimate evening with your loved one? Do you really? No, you don't. I don't give a shit about Valentine's Day, I'll tell you that right now. I don't. You know why? I don't care? Because every Friday, I've been married for 11 years, every Friday for several years now.

I don't know how long we've been doing it. It is a habit. We go out on a date, we live in Los Angeles, we go and usually try a new restaurant, or we go to one of our favorites and we have beautiful conversation and it is a lovely intimate evening. I don't give a shit about Valentine's Day. Do you see what I'm saying? Some of you are banking on giving Tuesday because you don't.

strong enough relationships with the donors who are already giving you money, and so you are praying and hoping that you get a hundred new donors who give you 25, 50, a hundred bucks, and that's stressful as hell. Stop that. You need to recession proof because when you. you will lose donors slowly over time, it will be a slow death. It won't be instant year over year, they will leave you. They will no longer give.

They will say they will have all the reasons, but ultimately it's because you did not do a good job. I know this is tough to hear, but this is what I see all the time, and I don't want you to get to that point because you're gonna have make really tough decisions. You're gonna have to lay off staff. You're gonna have to consider shutting your doors. You're gonna have to consider merging with a bigger nonprofit because you can't raise the money. You're gonna have to end up doing more.

With fewer people, you're going to be burnt out and still have to keep going. You're gonna be exhausted. It's going to impact your personal life, and you're going to have to serve fewer community members. Do you see where this is going? When would be a good time to prioritize learning how to talk to rich people and raise more money? When would be a good time to learn the skill of talking about money and impact with rich people? When would be a good time to learn major gifts?

That is how you recession proof your organization. You have got to focus on raising more money because let me tell you what does happen when economic downturn comes, when there is war time, when there is famine, when the market is down. corporations. Will put your nonprofit on the chopping block. First. Foundations will still remain rigid, unflexible, and difficult to break into, so it will take more time to maybe get $0 from foundations. So that is a situation.

And when there's a pandemic, right? Gala's events, bye bye. Major gifts is the way to grow your revenue the fastest and recession proof your overall fundraising in your organization. It is the way, the number one strategy you should be prioritizing. I cannot stress this. So I encourage you to get Inside Courage Lab if you are new to Major Gifts fundraising.

If you have less than two or three years of experience and you know that it needs to be your number one priority in 2023, I highly encourage you to get Inside Courage Lab, my program to teach you the major gift basics to help you be yourself with rich people to help you close major gifts fast. It does not need to take 12 months to cultivate a donor. That's bullshit. And the person who's selling you that program just wants to keep you in their program longer and have you pay them even more money.

it's unnecessary. So I can help you raise 10 K in a matter of weeks and we do that inside my program. I really want you to start 2023 strong. So get Inside Courage Lab. Go to my website. You can go to nonprofit courage lab.com. You can go to julie ordon.com. My first and last name, O R D O N E Z. I can't wait to have you in there. It is such a transformative time. I absolutely love Courage Lab. It's one of the most favorite things that I do in life.

I have created the exact program from start to finish that I wish that I had, and of all of the juiciest experiences, learnings, things that my mentors have taught. Has been distilled down into a six week program that is going to flipping change your life. You will not only become a skilled major gifts fundraiser, but you will become a better human being. You will become a person of greater integrity. You will stop being so agreeable and you will start raising more money.

You will start speaking up your mind. You will start speaking. What is actually on your heart? And stop with all of this self betrayal where you don't actually say what you think. When you're in meetings, when you're talking to people, you will get comfortable talking to rich people about giving their money to you, to your organization. This is what you need to prioritize if you're serious about growing your nonprofit. If you are truly serious about serving more people. Now is the.

See you in there.