Beware of the "Me" Monster |
Feb 9, 2010 |
The language we use and the questions we ask (or perhaps should be asking) are essential elements in the pursuit of building meaningful partnerships with foundations. In this post I’ll explore a few observations that I’ve made from the foundation world and hopefully use a little humor to illustrate my point.
The Pronouns “We” Use
One of the most meaningful parts of a GTO’s responsibilities is connecting with ministry leaders – like you. And while most of these meetings are encouraging and productive, many are not. In fact, last week I had a few such meetings and walked away from each wondering, is this ministry remotely interested in hearing what our program goals are as a foundation or merely in telling me about “who they are” and “what they are called to do.” With my heightened sensitivity, thanks to the principles of Transformational Giving, it would be an understatement to say that I was distracted by the incessant use of the plural pronoun…all of which referred exclusively to the organization, its leadership, and its programs. And while I concede that it is important to discuss the above items, the conservations were far from than engaging.
If meaningful partnership it to be realized, I would propose that we reconsider the language we use when meeting with or in our communications with foundation staff. If, and this “if” should be considered before initiating with a foundation, there is alignment in areas of interest, offering points of entry into the conversation will be extremely helpful in forging potential causal connections. An endeavor that we as a foundation are very interested in making. To illustrate my point, though admittedly in a humorous way, I commend the following short clip for your consideration.
Asking Good Questions
The potential that questions have to explore and engage a foundation at a casual level, I would contend, are key to building meaningful partnerships. Questions, at least those that are thoughtful and well intentioned, naturally create the points of entry I alluded to above and thus invite open dialogue. A great illustration of this, is the use of questions in the Bible. The Biblical text is rich with questions. Questions, that are poignant, narratively climactic, and deeply engaging. Questions like, “Where are you,” “What is truth,” Who do you say that I am,” and “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” In fact, it’s interesting to note that Jesus asked some 304 questions during his public ministry as reflected in the Gospel accounts. Leading me to conclude, that questions are not only important, but they are a highly effective way to engage in a more meaningful and productive dialogue.
So, I’ll start. What question(s) could we ask that would open the dialogue and lead to a deeper understanding of the cause(s) we serve, appropriately explore our programs, and provide opportunities to build lasting partnerships? We're game for discussing a new approach to granting conservations and we hope you are. We invite you to register for the Grantwriting workshop and see what we mean...
