Modern Dance & the Haiti Earthquake

Do you believe in your cause?

Really?

I had the opportunity to sit with a successful individual who lent his time and resources to an NYC dance school. This guy was unreal. Aside from being fervent supporter of the school (his daughter had been a student years ago), he was a committed, active member of their board and was involved in prospecting and soliciting donations.

"Really? Dance?" I asked naively, "How do you pitch dance in today's world...?"

"What exactly does that mean...?" he shot back, somewhat agitated.

My save: "You know. Today's world... Tsunami, Haitian earthquake. Many donors think the arts are secondary to some of the hot crisis issues."

"They're wrong."

He took a deep breath and proceeded to enlighten me on how dance promotes physical and mental fitness, cooperation, self-esteem, empathy, independence. He described for me the vibrant community of teachers, students, parents and their loved ones for whom the school was the nucleus of life. A little girl who had the opportunity to pursue dance, he explained, would grow up healthier than her peers, more optimistic, sensitive and empowered in all areas of her life.

He asked, "and what's about Haiti?"

"What do you mean? The nation is shattered! They've lost everything!"

"And do you know who is going to save them?" he asked, now looking me square in the eye, "the little girls who took dance!"

That, my friends, is called a believer.

Although it's a lesson that I think we all know on a certain level of our subconscious, this gentleman's clarity and resolve in his purpose illustrated for me how essential it is to believe. A non-believer will always find solicitation to be an obstacle to success. A believer, on the other hand, does not find "the ask" to be a burden. The cause is so clear and so essential to him. Therefore, his urgency is as justified as asking someone to call 911 during an emergency. This is a believer.

A believer knows that his cause is the single most important thing in the world at this very moment. He knows that his needs are the needs of not just individuals, or a community, but the entire world. There is absolutely nothing more worthwhile that a prospective donor could possibly be doing with his time than to support the cause as best he can.

An non-believer, on the other hand, weighs his needs against the perceived "readiness" of the donor. Maybe he's busy, the Dow tanked yesterday, the widget business has suffered lately... all of these real or perceived factors compromise the infidel.

When he does manage to sit with a prospect, he is handicapped. Even if he's well spoken, his presentation lacks fire. He backs off at the first sign of the donors discomfort. He won't make the ask if he perceives that the donor is "having a bad day". When he does get a check, he leaves the donors office not with a sense of fulfillment and fervor, but with an overwhelming sense of "I can't believe he went for it!"

There's no point in going on. I think we've all been there.

To get the check, you must be a believer. No, a fanatic. There must be a fire burning in your heart that does not know anything other than the fact the fate of the world hangs upon the success of [your cause here].

That burning fire animates everything that you do - your body language, your words, your ability to control the flow of the solicitation and get your message through in a meaningful way.