GIVING GETS US HIGH. REALLY. OUR BRAIN KICKS OUT CHEMICALS THAT MAKE US FEEL GOOD WHEN WE GIVE.” Mike Zserdin, The Generosity Manifesto
I have to acknowledge as someone who has raised funds for 10 years that much of my focus was on transactions, and automated, impersonal communications. These actions came more from an industrial mindset, with ministry as the “product,” and giving as the “input.”
From the help of a mentor I have shifted to a focus on relationships, and personal, tailored communications. This matches the shift that our culture has made from scarcity to abundance. Dave Gray’s “Everything is a Service” describes the transition to an ‘Age of Abundance:’
“The material abundance we all enjoy was made possible by an industrial economy that focused primarily mass-producing material goods. The philosophy of mass production was based on Henry Ford’s big idea: If you could produce great volumes of a product at a low cost, the market for that product would be virtually unlimited. In the early days his idea held true, but eventually, every market gets saturated and it gets more and more difficult to sell them more stuff. By 1960, 70% of families owned their own homes, 85% had a TV, and 75% had a car.”
If you are sending “great volumes” of mass information to your donors then now is the time to learn and adopt practices that match this new reality. Mike Zserdin’s Generosity Manifesto clearly captures the shift our culture has made and the opportunities to transform people and communities by optimizing around generosity and abundance instead of efficiency and scarcity.
For ministry leaders this ebook is a must-read that will provide insight and inspiration to change communication and fundraising strategies that no longer resonate with many people, particularly Gen-Y.
It’s also a great resource for any Christian seeking to live out their faith more intentionally, especially in the area of finances.
Awesome link. Thanks Brian. Downloaded right away. 🙂
Great Melvin!