Abundance Makes Things Feel Lighter
I am on the journey of converting my learned scarcity mentality into a reprogrammed abundance mentality. I admit it; the idea of the pie only being so big has been instilled in me since my early days in the social sector, and likely way before that. But, as I have taken steps to check out what an abundance mentality offers, I am able to see that the more I believe in abundance, the more abundance will come.
This may sound woo-woo (as some people like to call it) but check this out:
I’ve lived the experience of relating deeply to a funder, and because of that deep relationship we’ve made more impact by moving 700X more funds to the nonprofit I was working with. That’s abundance.
I’ve asked funders for introductions to other funders, and they’ve done it. That’s abundance.
I’ve made spreadsheets for clients with dream funders, and actually CONNECTED with those funders. That's abundance!
But I’ve also been in the scarcity mentality. And for nonprofit organizations with a scarcity mentality, everything is a slog.
Outreach to new funders is a task, not a joyful opportunity to connect on impact.
Funder research is a drag, instead of a playful way to check in to see what funders are up to and how your organization may or may not fit.
Networking opportunities like presenting at conferences and attending events are seen as necessary evils, instead of casual yet highly impactful ways to make new friends.
You wouldn’t dream of reaching out to your dream funders because well, what would you even say?
You’re on your phone when you’re playing with your kids on the weekend because you’re so wrapped up in the metrics and tasks you can’t enjoy life.
To my scarcity mentality friends, I see you. I know it’s hard work and you’re wearing so many hats and juggling so many balls it feels like you’re on a hamster wheel that will never stop.
I think though, that we’d all be better off mentally, if we embraced an abundance mentality. And really, if we’re better off mentally, we’re better fundraisers. When we can embrace the idea that there are plenty of resources, partners and people to connect with, we can start to play at work again. We can put up boundaries and mean them. We can disconnect and come back refreshed.
When it comes to social impact, we don’t have room for scarcity anymore. While we have come so far as a society over the past two thousand years, we also have incredibly big challenges to work through such as climate change, displacements due to conflicts and technology, ensuring everyone on our planet has a basic literacy level, and so much more!
So come join me on the abundance journey. I promise, you will feel a lot lighter and maybe even make more impact if you do.