Knowing what drives you both personally and professionally will help you forge stronger connections with supporters – and the power is in the ‘why’, says Stephen George

For those old enough to remember, there used to be a thing called careers advice at school. In my case it consisted of a leaflet shelf and was genuinely quite pointless. The prospect of defining a career, without a single understanding or insight on who you were and what was your purpose, was baffling back then and still is.

When I joined a charity and became a fundraiser I quickly learnt the need to define purpose. People would make an assumption about what you were raising money for and why it was often sidelined. Assumption meant a lack of connection and was usually always wrong, so the key skill I learnt was to answer ‘why’.

Replacing ‘what’ with ‘why’

The first level was always about the cause. Why is there a problem, and what is the solution? The second level is the organisation. I found that we were excellent at describing what we did, but almost always not so at why we did it. The case for support, the proposition, the case studies often didn’t help answer simply and with passion the ‘why’. The final level was you, the person, the individual.

All these levels work together. As I look back, I see this even more clearly. A creative brief loses its way in a clever ad or campaign that doesn’t connect or deliver. The idea becomes more complicated the more the purpose is lost.

This most often happens when the brief is not thought through. If I had pound for every time I’ve seen people flail around looking for an answer, rather than it tripping off the tongue and from the heart, I’d be richer than ever.

Shaped by experience

The area I look back on most and that I believe makes the most difference is in finding personal purpose. The best fundraisers have a sense of themselves and who they are, where they are, why they do it and the difference they can make. Because of that they burst through with authenticity and that, above all, shines.

This is usually because they can share a personal story. Great fundraising is driven by stories, and where an individual can cut through with a personal story, case studies become redundant.

Just recently, I was talking to a set of hospital charity fundraisers. One of them described meeting a child who she had got to know and who fronted one of their campaigns with his family. Sadly he died shortly after, and in that moment I could see that what she did and why she did it made all the difference.

So, find your purpose. Be comfortable with sharing a personal story. Use purpose to find inspiration. Ask ‘why’ all the time, and make ‘why’ stand out and connect rather than ‘what’ and ‘how’. Every appeal I have known, from Full Stop to a new cancer centre, has been able to shout out ‘why’, and that is the most important lesson I’ve learnt that makes the biggest difference.

Stephen George is a fundraising and leadership coach and consultant in the non-profit sector. Listen to his new podcast for tips on how non-profit leaders can become more entrepreneurial, so they can raise more money and change behaviour