Every girl needs a role model. This week they got one. A team-full, actually.
Megan Rapinoe and her 2019 World Cup winning teammates are heroes to girls everywhere, and fundraisers too. If you want to feel amazing, check out Megan’s power pose here — it’s inspirational!
5 Fundraising Lessons Courtesy of the 2019 World Cup Winners
Likewise, there are lessons that we as fundraisers can learn from Megan and the 2019 women’s team.
1. Dream Big
Like winning the World Cup, the founder of your organization had big dreams (and hopefully you do, too).
You might be working to end poverty, cure diseases, clean the environment, save animals, provide education, or even bring art to the world. Those are all pretty big dreams, if you ask me.
2. Set Specific Goals
The women’s soccer team set their eyes on the biggest prize. Their goal: to win the World Cup. What’s your big, specific goal? If it’s to raise $100,000, or even a million dollars, while you do want to set a specific monetary goal when asking for a gift, think about this question more broadly:
Why do you want to raise that money?
Set a goal on the big prize, such as ending illiteracy in your state, or passing laws reducing carbon emissions.
3. Work Hard
It’s clear that the women’s soccer team worked hard. Day after day, week after week, year after year. They likely practiced in terrible weather and on days they didn’t feel like it. That’s the difference between the winners and the losers.
There’s no easy way to say this, but fundraising is a slog. It’s hard work. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Expect to be in it for the long haul. You’ve got to put in the time to make the big differences.
4. Practice and Prepare
Playing soccer well takes practice and preparation. Fundraising does, too.
I was on a coaching call with a client yesterday and I encouraged her to begin asking the people she thought she had a best chance at getting a gift from. They would be her “practice” before asking for much larger gifts.
Think of asking for major gifts as the most important business meeting you’ve ever had. Go in practiced and prepared.
5. Stand Up for What you Believe
There’s no question that the women’s team stands up for what they believe. They are serving as a role models in the following ways:
- Suing for equal pay
- Refusing to go to the White House (if invited)
- Megan Rapinoe was one of the first to “take a knee” after Colin Kapernick
Hopefully your organization represents what you believe. For example, those individuals who are fighting for the immigrants at the border and those being threatened with deportation on a daily basis.
If you want to be like the women’s World Cup winning team, take these 5 lessons and go raise some money!
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