Achieving Fundraising Flow

You know the feeling - that feeling you get when you finish a prospect visit and feel amazing, accomplished.

As you mentally assess the visit, you recall:

• your message was coming across with ease...
• your nonverbals were on point...
• you were relaxed yet attentive...
• you were listening deeply...
• the tone was conversational...
• your imagination and inner monologue led to instinctive storytelling...

all while presenting your authentic self. The time flew by. You made plans for a follow up visit to answer any questions and pick up a signed pledge form.

When all of these communication dynamics are firing in unison, carrying you effortlessly through the visit, you are working in state of fundraising flow.

Achieving fundraising flow can feel elusive, but there are steps you can take to make sure you are primed to activate it. Staying attentive, making sure your body, mind, and spirit are operating in tandem is a major contributor in achieving a state of fundraising flow.

Think about fundraising work and ask technique, regardless of your personal style, an ask operates on three levels:

• the physical ask through your words and actions,
• the mental ask via self-talk and a positive state of mind,
• the spirit ask which speaks to your means of connecting the ask to something larger than yourself.

You are better equipped to achieve a state of fundraising flow when you allow these three levels to operate in their natual interconnected state.

Incorporating a daily practice that considers the body, mind, and spirit, provides space physically, mentally, and spiritually to accept and adapt to whatever the day may bring creatively and/or otherwise.

A few activities that maintain connection between body, mind, and spirit are, just to name a few:

• tai chi,
• exercise and sports,
• reading inspirational books,
• writing morning pages or journaling,
• meditating, praying, and/or silent contemplation.

It doesn't matter whether you devote 5 or 50 minutes to your daily practice. The goal is creating the habit.

As a fundraiser you are constantly called upon to put yourself out there, take a chance, handle rejection, allow vulnerability and make the ask. Activate your fundraising flow to create an environment in your prospect visits that feels easy, is effective, remains beneficial to all parties, and leaves everyone feeling inspired.