Perhaps a little known fact: I’m an amateur stand-up comedian. Emphasis on the amateur. I’ve bombed on open mic stages all over lower Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn. I’ve told NSFW jokes in front of my parents and born-again Christian aunt in San Francisco.
It’s been both mortifying and exhilarating.
The only way to be a better comedian is to suck first and then to suck less over time as you work on your jokes, your set, your delivery. It’s the painstaking task of reviewing all of the failed jokes, retrying what works, standing up and getting knocked down over and over again.
The only way is through.
This is why I want to incorporate a stand-up session in my fundraising training. First, it’s liberating when you bomb onstage and realize you won’t die (though sometimes you can wish it if you bomb hella hard). Second, it teaches you what works and what doesn’t.
Too many fundraisers don’t give themselves enough at bats to get good at asking for money. They delude themselves into thinking that working on their perfect powerpoint, doing prospect research and cleaning up their database are enough.
It’s not.
No amount of preparation and research will steer you out of failure. If you want to be a better fundraiser, you have to be prepared to screw up sometimes.
The great ones learn from their mistakes and do better next time. The real failures are the ones who conclude that their failed attempts mean that they’re not cut out for it and quit.
The point is not perfection. The point is the process.
Steph Curry doesn’t hit every three. Ali Wong doesn’t nail every joke. Even you will screw up an ask. But, keep going because we need you to change the world.
Want to improve your average and learn how to get better at fundraising? Join my Fundraising Accelerator. Applications open now, early bird pricing through January 31.
