You’ve launched your crowdfunding campaign for your nonprofit or social good project to effect some change in the world. Well done! It’s not an easy task, but you should not give up just yet.
It’s easy to lose your way as you wade through your crowdfunding campaign as well as working to make a social impact.
In times like these, it’s helpful to look to those who have gone before you where persistence paid off to extraordinary dividends. Here are four people to inspire your online fundraising campaign and journey.
1. Gandhi: Passion is what you’re willing to endure for what you believe in. Don’t give up.
Gandhi set out to free India through non-violent protest, which isn’t exactly the most orthodox approach to gain national independence.
He met with officials over and over again to no avail. He was imprisoned for sedition, but he endured. His passion carried him through bleak days and nights.
Finally, in August of 1947 India was released from British rule. At last, India belonged to Indians – just as Gandhi had always proclaimed.
Passion will sustain you as you wait for the funding you need to create a social impact.
2. Martin Luther King, Jr.: It takes time to create a social impact.
Some say it takes a lifetime to make an impact in a community, so how long would it take to impact a nation? Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized the need to press on because of the magnitude of potential impact.
His home was bombed. He was often spat on, kicked, threatened, and degraded. Through it all, he knew the veracity and power of what he believed and he fought for it relentlessly. As you probably already know, he was assassinated to this end in Tennessee.
Despite the obstacles in crowdfunding for nonprofits, believe your dream is worth it, don’t give up, and do your part to create the social impact you set out to make.
3. Mother Teresa: Your sense of urgency must be curtailed.
I must say it was moving to see Mother Teresa’s tomb in Calcutta, India. I stood there and thought of the years she walked the streets of Calcutta with no grand agenda.
Her aim: to love and provide for the poor of India.
Simply put: She was known as the mother of India. The need was great. With almost five million in Calcutta, and most in poverty, she sought to feed as many as she could without the crushing urgency to feed all of them. Yet, she was persistent to love whoever was in her path each day.
Do for one what you wish you could do for all. You might be overwhelmed by the urgency to do something bigger and better, but don’t let the size of the issue you’re tackling discourage you from the small impact you can have today with one person.
4. Andy Stanley: The tension is good.
Andy Stanley followed in his father’s footsteps and became a pastor in Atlanta, Georgia. He and five others founded North Point Community Church in 1995. Little did he know the church would become the second largest church in America with over 24,000 weekly attendees.
The faster his church grew the more he knew it had to somehow ‘become smaller.’ He and his team sat with this tension of how to make their church feel small and they coined the widespread term ‘small groups.’ These small groups made one-on-one connections possible and 1000s attendees kept coming week after week.
Internal tension is like the alarm clock for a successful, driven person. It’s the part of you that says, “It has to be better. We can do more.” Press into the tension you’re experiencing as you crowdfund – you might be surprised at the creative ideas you come up with.
Along the way you will encounter obstacles, a sense of urgency that surpasses the pace of your impact, discouragement, a sense of powerlessness, and immense tension – but like these people, be persistent. Look to them as examples of why you should not give up.
Believe your cause is worth it! Don’t give up!
