Читать книгу Delusional Altruism - Kris Putnam-Walkerly - Страница 28

Philanthropists don't like to disappoint people. I sure don't, and I bet you don't either. Unfortunately, philanthropy provides ample opportunities to disappoint. Sometimes it feels like the number one thing we do! Disappointing others most commonly happens by politely saying, “No.” “No” to applicants that don't fit our funding guidelines. “No” to friends who ask us to contribute to their favorite charity. “No” to nonprofit leaders who want us to serve on their board.

One ultra-high-net-worth donor served on an NGO board that caused her stress. She didn't think they were making smart decisions or fulfilling their potential. Her efforts to help them were ignored. She really wanted off the board, but she had made a commitment and feared disappointing them. Even though the board had become a waste of her time and drained her energy, she feared saying, “No.”

The fear of disappointing others also manifests itself when funders refuse to share what they've learned. For example, a corporate giving program conducted research on three different issues they're interested in funding. Findings and recommendations were summarized into a report. After reviewing the report, they selected one issue to support, but they were afraid to share the report publicly. They worried they would disappoint the people and organizations working on the two issues that weren't selected. Stuck in this scarcity mentality, they choose to hold back information that could prove helpful to other people working on that issue, out of fear of disappointing them.