By Dawn Miller, CFRE, Senior Vice President
Fear shows up in fundraising more often than we might want to admit. I’ve been a fundraiser for almost 30 years, and I can still remember being absolutely terrified the first time I met with a donor. A little negative voice was whispering doubts to me: What if I stumble when I ask for a gift? What if the donor says no? What if I get fired if this doesn’t go well? What if the donor just doesn’t like me? What if, what if, what if…?
Decades later that little voice still pops up on occasion, although I’ve learned to push through anyway. As fundraisers, we’re advocating for people, for change, for our community, by just doing our jobs. Fear around fundraising doesn’t make you or me weak. It makes us human.
Shift away from fear. Finding your fundraising courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s choosing to move forward despite it. One of the most powerful shifts you can make is reframing what you’re doing. You’re not begging for money. You’re not bothering someone. You’re not convincing people to care about your nonprofit. You’re offering a funding opportunity to participate in something meaningful to help others.
When donors give, they experience joy, purpose, and community connection. Fundraising isn’t a transaction (or at least it shouldn’t be). Courage grows when you remember that asking people to give is just as meaningful to the donor as it is to your mission. Donors are practicing their philanthropy, and we are an integral part of the fundraising process.
Courage often lives in small steps. Fundraising courage builds over time. It could be making one more stewardship call than you planned. Explaining the impact of a gift upgrade based on your case for support. Asking a clarifying question during a difficult donor conversation. Sitting in silence after making an ask (eek, that’s so hard!). Sometimes it’s even having coffee and small talk with someone that you don’t know to see if their life mission overlaps with your nonprofit.
Each small action trains you to recognize, “I survived this and I can do it again.” Courage often comes after the fundraising action, not before it.
Learn from a “no.” Let’s be honest – rejection can sting. In fundraising, receiving a “no” is rarely personal, although it might feel that way. Sometimes “no” means not right now, not that amount, not that project, or not your nonprofit. Not every donor is your donor. People are different and so are their giving priorities.
Fundraising courage grows when you stop seeing rejection as failure and start seeing it as a learning opportunity.
Finding your fundraising courage isn’t about being fearless. Every time you show up, cultivate, steward, ask, and tell your organization’s story, you are practicing your courage. And over time, what once felt scary begins to feel possible. There is so much joy on the other side of fear – for you, your donors, and your nonprofit. Feel the fear, then do it anyway!
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