Trying to raise money on the basis of an organization's needs may work just about as well as trying to obtain a bank loan by pleading poverty. Panhandling is as ineffective with donors as it is with bankers.

Too many institutions still haven't accepted this reality. They continue to believe that the more desperate for funds they appear, the more successful at fund raising they'll be.

But donors are tired of hearing these pleas over and over again. In fact, from the viewpoint of the donor, an organization has no needs.

A community, of course, may have needs to satisfy. Society may have problems to solve. People may have needs and problems.

The organization has solutions. It has answers. It has capabilities.

Successful organizations today are putting philanthropic dollars to work in meeting the needs of people.

Those who really have an edge on the competition go a step further, beyond the community's needs and society's problems.

These organizations address people's wants. They address the community's potential and society's aspirations. They address opportunities-and show how the institution is poised to capitalize on these opportunities, on behalf of all those it serves.

One urban university translated this attitude into words when it described itself as "an instrument for the advancement of society."

Other institutions, unfortunately, still behave as if their own internal agendas are more important than their mission of service to society. What Napoleon said about human nature more than 150 years ago can still be applied to them:

"Men take only their needs into consideration, never their abilities."

Excerpt from "The Raising of Money" by James Gregory Lord

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