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Throughout my time in the fundraising business, I've learned a thing or two about how to succeed and how to fail. The people and groups who want help are always the ones who reach their goals. It may sound harsh but the truth is, if you don't want help from others, you will fail. Here's why:
Fundraising is a tool that anyone can use to reach a financial goal. Crowdfunding, takes it a step further. Crowdfunding relies less on the selling of a product and more on an emotional pull from a community to help each other. Large communities of people each give just a little bit, which makes a huge impact for groups in need.
If your group needs financial help, how do you get it from this large community?
You have to ask for it.
AND
You have to really want it.
You can achieve many things in this life by giving your time and your skills. Other things in life require you to ask for help. If asking for help is something you cannot do, you will not reach your goals.
I've recently taught my little brother this same lesson. He is nine years old and plays basketball, or at least, he tries to play basketball. He struggles with it and get very frustrated. He wants to be there for his team and really BRING IT on the court. Unfortunately, he doesn't get the ball passed to him very much. It's hard on him. He wants to be part of the team and he wants to be good enough to make a basket. I watched him painfully get through the season. He got angry, sad, and felt awful after each game. I waited patiently for him to come to me about it. Finally, before the last game of the season, he asked me if I could practice with him at the park. He asked me to teach him how to dribble better and maybe how to shoot too. We worked on it together. At the last game, he scored 4 points and his team won their first game.
Asking for help is hard, but it is a part of life. Please do not feel ashamed to ask for help! As humans, we are not perfect and cannot do everything ourselves. Asking for help is a form of emotional intelligence and is a vital part of our success. Plus, there are many people out there that want to help you. And if you want it badly enough, you will go out and ask for it!