How a nonprofit’s funding can plateau through Irrational Frugality . . .

Last week, I shared with you some advice Bobbi Rebell shared during a guest interview on The SimplyBe. Podcast. I follow her because she’s a financial guru and runs a super successful business and brand. 

I also told you that I’d circle back and tell you my favorite new phrase she used! I had literally told about 30 people this within a week of listening to the podcast. Why? Because it resonated so much with me.

Here’s what happened to me.

My husband and I celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary in February of 2020. We went to Italy on our honeymoon. And when we were in Italy ten years ago, we made the pact to come back on our tenth anniversary. 

Well, a lot has changed in ten years.

Back then we had full freedom to time vacations whenever we pleased. Go anywhere in the world without much planning or looking ahead. Life is full of surprises.

To add to the story, five years ago our two daughters joined our family through international adoption. One day while talking about travel and our ten-year anniversary plans, without thinking I blurted out “Of course, we’re all going!!” 

This added complexity. Because if we waited to take the trip as planned in the summer of 2020, they’d both be in high school. And because my kids started school late in life in a new language, summers for us mean extra tutoring, extra learning, and lots of summer school. And that really increases in high school.

So, if we WERE going back to Italy that meant we had to push it up a year and go in 2019. So, that’s what we did. All four of us went to Italy the summer of 2019 for two full weeks.

And.It.Was.Glorious.

There we were, in Italy, on our 9.5 year anniversary with our 13- and 15-year-old daughters!

Bobbi told a nearly identical story on the podcast. Except her trip was to Iceland.

She planned the trip but was super stressed about how much it was costing. So stressed that she said she lost sight of reality. She thought they couldn’t afford the trip. But, in reality, they could.

And that’s the part of the story where my new favorite phrase came in. Her sister told her she was being Irrationally Frugal.

I resonated so much with Irrationally Frugal. I laughed out loud.

Looking back, I was a stress-ball over the cost of this trip. I ran the budget numbers AFTER I blurted out we were all four going! (Holy smokes - it costs a lot of money for four people to be in Europe for two weeks.) And we weren’t crazy while we were there . . . but we WANTED it to be memorable. We love adding a third culture conversation, food, and experiences into our already multicultural family.

But the HOURS I stressed over how much this trip was costing? It was dumb. I lost sight of reality.

You know what? I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Because, hello? If we would have stuck to the original plans and waited until the summer of 2020? Well...you know how that story would have ended.

It was a magical trip. Restful. Reflective. Fun. We all tried new food. We learned about history. We saw beautiful things. We bonded as a family. We’re already talking about the next European adventure.

And it was worth every dime. The fear of spending the money went away. I look back now and laugh about how stressed I was.

Can I be honest?

I talk to nonprofit leaders every week who struggle with spending money. You know, comments like . . .

• We couldn’t possibly hire another development professional.

• We couldn’t possibly invest in professional development for the staff or board members.

• We can’t bring graphics or communications in-house.

• We couldn’t ever pay THAT company to build a website for us.

• We couldn't EVER spend money on something that’s not in the budget.

This might be why you’re not raising more money every year. 

It’s not your fault. For too many years nonprofits have been told to DO MORE, ON LESS. Well, those days are over. We left them in 2020.

Listen, a nonprofit’s funding plateaus when they’ve been Irrationally Frugal for too long.

Irrational Frugality is a cousin to the Scarcity Mindset. And a scarce mindset gets scarce results.

Let’s not waste what our eyes were opened to in 2020. Will you look back on last year knowing it propelled you into a better future of funding?

Are you ready to change and rebuild?

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P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your nonprofit revenue:

1. Follow me on LinkedIn for content and resources first
I give away trade secrets and insider info every week - the same lessons I teach my clients about what they can do to start attracting larger dollars and generate more unrestricted money for your nonprofit.

2. Read my WHITEPAPER to see if your overall approach to financing your mission every year might be keeping you from growing.
Here you’ll learn THE BIG FUNDRAISING SECRET that keeps organizations from having the funds to achieve what’s in their strategic plans. Click here to get it.

3. Work with me to reimagine your overall approach to revenue generation
If you'd like to add 7+ figures of charitable revenue to your nonprofit, just send me an email at Sherry@QuamTaylor.com with the subject line “grow.” Tell me a little about your nonprofit and what you need to raise this year. I’ll get you the details! 🎯