Fundraising Culture

In Mark Miller’s new book “Culture Rules,” Mark shares that he asked leaders of organizations with great cultures how often they talk about culture.  The answer he got from great leaders: they talk about culture every day, in every meeting.  Since reading that, I have started intentionally talking about culture every day, in every meeting, hoping to understand and invest consistently in the unseen force that affects everything.  In my work, I focus on radio station culture and show culture.  

For this article, let’s ponder fundraising culture.

If you think fundraising on your station is a transaction between you and your listeners, I’m not hot on your culture.  But if you think fundraising on your station is about a relationship with the listener, I’m in.

If you don’t sincerely appreciate the sacrifice, time, and thought that went into a gift, I don’t want to be a part of your culture.  But when gifts come in, if your heart feels achy with gratitude because God is providing what’s needed to sustain and grow His ministry that you are stewarding for a short slice of time, then you are helping healthy culture exist.

If you don’t tell the truth when you fundraise, please stop.  But if you tell the truth and use fundraising techniques to create excitement, tension, urgency, and celebration because good is happening, then your culture sounds like a culture where I would like to be.

If you shame a listener for not calling, you must be a person who carries a lot of internal shame, and you might want to do some soul work around that.  Shame culture is rough.  But if you delight in telling the story and you celebrate every gift, knowing God is doing the heavy lifting, then I, in turn, delight in you and celebrate the culture you’re creating.

If you hate fundraising and you spread your hate of fundraising verbally to your team, you are seeding a culture of hate and small thinking.  But if you take the time to think about the impact one dollar has on feeding His people and shining the light of Christ in the darkness, you are a cultivator of spiritual maturity.

If you think you are better than or smarter than others on your team when it comes to fundraising, you are full of yourself.  But if you enter every interaction trying to learn something from the people around you, determined to support them, then you are about team and humility, and who wouldn’t want to work with you?

All the smart things in this last paragraph came from listening to Mark Miller last year at CMB’s Momentum:  Culture is 100% of the game.  It's simple but not simplistic.  You must know who you are and what you believe.  No organization drifts to greatness.  In his book Culture Rules, Mark has tools to help you state your culture in 3 words.  What if you found 3 words for your station’s fundraising culture?  What if you talked about your culture every day, in every meeting?

 June 2023, written for Vidare Creative