COMMON GROUND

 

Confession: I am a graduate of the Ohio State University. Having lived in Wisconsin for the past 18 years, I have endured the wrath of Badger fans and even a number of Michigan folks. Much of this comes from friends and seemingly sane people who really don’t like my Buckeyes. Even more so after the win over Michigan and 59 – 0 embarrassment the Badgers endured during their loss in the Big Ten finals to OSU. They don’t just dislike us; they hate us.

But something strange happened recently that brought these people closer to me. The Buckeyes won the national football championship. No one expected us to be in the game… let alone win. But all I heard from my Big Ten rival friends was excitement for the Buckeyes to win. We had found common ground. People saw a win for the Big Ten as a win for them as well.

Not long ago I was meeting with a family foundation doing feasibility for a local nonprofit. This family had a particular organization they gave most of their support to, and it wasn’t my client. We did a nice job talking about the impact of our organization and felt very engaged. As we closed the conversation, my client mentioned that he knew his organization wasn’t a charity of choice for the foundation. The reply back? “You do great work with kids – and we like kids.” Common ground.

As you tell your organization’s story to potential donors, look for the common ground. Where does your work connect with others? Are your missions in alignment? Are you both addressing the same critical community need, just from a different angle?

A conversation with a donor is less about convincing them that your organization or project is the best and more about exploring how together you can achieve your mutual goal to help others.

Finding common ground strips some of the ego out of the process, allowing you and a donor to find multiple paths forward. Common ground is a place where trust can grow. When you’re on common ground, you’re sort of on the same team, even when you used to think of yourselves as bitter rivals.

Perhaps this metaphor works better for nonprofits than for college football. Next fall, when football starts all over, I expect the haters will be back. But I’ll enjoy it while I can.

Posted by Thom Peters
Thom Peters

Written by Thom Peters

A fascination with people and service has been the essential driving force behind Thom’s work with local and national non-profit organizations. Thom’s career in service began with his first summer as a YMCA camp counselor in college. From there, he went on to build a 30-year career within the not-for-profit arena.

Our Latest Posts

Subscribe