A Spiritual Approach to Fundraising for your Film

A Spiritual Approach to Fundraising for your Film

Most people would never imagine that spirituality and fundraising have the slightest relationship. After all, fundraising is all about money. And the love of money is the root of all evil, right? Fundraising is all about numbers, systems, and rinse and repeat. What could fundraising possibly have to do with spirituality?

Well, it may or may not seem obvious to you, but I have had several clients over the years who really did have the belief that “Money is the root of all evil.” But with a belief such as this one, it really is not possible to raise any money at all. Why would a donor give you money if you believe they are engaging in something evil by doing so? Well, they wouldn’t.

The fact is that money is an energy. It moves towards those that attract it, and it moves away from those who repel it. Money acts like a form of energy—fuel for life, a tool for exchange, or a reflection of personal mindset. It is this personal mindset that I work on with my clients.

As far as I can tell, every human being has their “money shit.” I have my own personal money shit. Everyone does. I remember years ago, I was having coffee with a couple of friends, all bemoaning how broke we were. It turned out that each of us had less than $100 in the bank. However, as the conversation continued, it turned out that one of us was an airline pilot who was about to get his license back and about to start flying again, and therefore about to bring in a very significant income. The other person was so “broke” that she was considering selling one of several buildings she owned. I realized that my version of broke meant something very different from these two friends, as I was living in a foreign country with no family support and no job.

And even then, my version of “broke” was nowhere near as dire as that of millions and millions of people around the world. I currently have a friend who is a multi-millionaire and who is convinced that he has to buy a lot more gold to protect himself against the inevitable moment when society falls apart, and he is left with nothing but his multi-million-dollar apartment to protect himself against the soon-to-be-rioting hordes.

What I have seen in my work as a fundraising coach is that each one of us can actually learn to let go of this “money shit.” It is absolutely possible to replace our negative thoughts about money and instead fill our minds with positive thoughts.

I would argue that this shift from the negative to the positive is also a shift from a sense of aloneness, of being isolated against the world, to an experience of inclusion, of being one with everyone on the planet, and a new life of connection to others, which some experience as spirituality.

There have been so many times as I have worked with a client preparing to meet with an investor, a donor, a funder, that the work we have done together is all about removing the mental blocks created by negative beliefs about money, about the person they are about to meet, or other ways that people created barriers to receiving.

What I have learned is that in order to be a successful fundraiser, we have to find a place without mental issues around money. By clearing out all these negative thoughts, we achieve a place of lightness, of spiritual clarity that is absolutely the only place from which we can raise money.