The Importance of Relationships

The Power of a Relationship. 

Today, I\’d like to talk about the importance of a full relationship. Often, we think about someone being in our life for one, single reason.  But that\’s not actually true.

In fact, every conversation, every relationship affects dozens, even thousands, of other people.  That\’s right, thousands.  

When we talk to someone, we affect them. We might ask them to do something.  That affects someone else, or even a group of people.   Even our tone can affect them: If you\’re down, they might feel it. If you\’re positive, you might lead them to a more peaceful state of mind.   How you affect them will affect how they treat the next person.  Every conversation is part of a chain for good, or stress, of joy or negativity.

You can make  every relationship,  lead to something greater.  I want to give an example of that today.

I\’ve known Chris Towle for more than 10 years. He is a significant funder of ours. But he didn\’t start out as a funder.

I like creating relationships that relate to the whole person.  This is because I want to have a long-term relationship with them, which is based on them and not just money. After years of watching us, Chris donated from his family foundation, and then in subsequent years, donated stock.  So I don\’t usually start fundraising from people after two or three years; then they know I value them for who they are.  Sometimes, I don\’t even have to ask; they just give.

The relationship now extends into positive marketing for UniversalGiving. Chris and his wife are involved in Principia, where they invited us to speak at a conference. So you can see we’re building a long-term relationship, attaining funding, getting his company involved to give funding, and also helping with marketing. This isn\’t just about a funding request.

I encourage you to think about this. How can your build positive relationships that go further than one person?

Let\’s take a look at companies.  If you\’re trying to attain a new client, is it just about closing a new deal?  Absolutely not.

First, it\’s great to have a positive client.  That\’s wonderful.  You can add to that.  We have such a positive relationship with Cisco, that former Cisco employees join UniversalGiving as a Returnee . How wonderful to get team members from Cisco!

In addition, we can sell in our gift certificates to them: For the holidays or performance reviews, they provide gift certificates to their employees. Then, we both promote each other on social media; that’s marketing. So if you look at that, there’s a corporate contracts, returnees, gift certificates, and increasing donations on our site.  Pretty spectacular!  That\’s certainly beyond one conversation, one relationship.

So as you move forward today, know that one conversation can lead to another.  This kind of mindset can build so much good for the future.   Are you stressed? It won\’t draw more people to your cause.  Are you positive?  Then you can be grateful for the great partnership you have, and expand it.

Sincerely,

Pamela