“Open” people are the ones you should be spending the bulk of your time engaging as an advancement professional.
People who are open are learners. They are interested in ways to make tomorrow better than today. They are willing to charitably invest in others who are working to make tomorrow better than today.
“Closed” people are those who desire and want to maintain the status-quo. They want to keep the world from getting worse (which they believe it is). They aren’t interested in being part of something that makes tomorrow better because, fundamentally, they believe the version of “better” we are describing is actually “worse.”
Attempting to convince a closed individual into becoming more open can be a seductive goal for an advancement professional. “They’ve got the money,” the thinking goes, “we just need to do a better job of engaging (or educating or convincing) them.”
But, moving someone from a closed mindset rarely works. Mostly because they don’t want to be more engaged or convinced or educated or. . .
People typically aren’t closed because of logic, data, or provable statistics.
People are closed because of beliefs about themselves, others, and our world. Logic and data and statistics only serve to support their beliefs. And, any logic, data, or statistics in opposition to their beliefs are viewed skeptically.
Who believes what you believe about your mission?
Who believes what you believe about tomorrow?
Who believes what you believe about giving in support of tomorrow?
Those are the people with whom you should be spending your time.
