Unlock the Love
Philanthropy heals.
Not just by supporting nonprofits working to heal people recovering from a physical or mental setback, the loss of a loved one, abuse, or any other form of past or present trauma.
Philanthropy actually heals the philanthropist.
This truth was revealed to me at a conference for healthcare development professionals that I attended several years ago.
A registered nurse spoke about the part philanthropy plays in the healing journey for those who received care themselves and for someone who accompanied a loved one through a difficult medical intervention.
Research shows our human desire to give back helps move the healing journey along. Yet when a patient or family member asks a medical team member about how they can give back, the presenter said the response they often get is, “That’s not necessary. It’s our job to make you feel better.”
Her mission is to reverse that trend—and not just to direct money into her hospital system.
That response actually inhibits the healing journey. It is human nature to want to give back, she noted, to repay the place that treated you or your loved one. This desire to give back isn’t only for healthcare, by the way. Giving back to the nonprofit that helped your child overcome a learning disability or the program that brings your elderly parent their meals also closes a loop in the healing journey.
Nonprofits doing good work—especially those that impact us personally—unlock a powerful set of emotions. And those emotions lead us to want to make a response, often in the form of giving back through volunteering or a financial contribution.
The RN at that conference noted that everyone on her care team is trained to connect any patient or family member who makes an expression of generosity to someone in the development office. Far from taking advantage of that person, they are enabling that person’s spiritual and emotional healing to come full circle. To let them thank the organization for the gift of healing they received.
Too often philanthropy is associated with the “dirty work” of asking people for money, cajoling, twisting arms, etc. But, as this presenter noted, the truth is far deeper and more complex. Philanthropy, after all, literally means love of humankind.
Do someone a favor by helping them unlock their love response, and let the healing begin.
Learn more healing through philanthropy in Chapter 1 of my new book “Finding Funding: How to Ask for Money and Get It.”