Monday Matters: What Could We Do If We Stopped Being Afraid?

A fluffy gray kitten with wide amber eyes peers over a white ledge, its front paws hanging down. The image has a dark blue border and no text.

Spooky season is upon us, so it seems like a good time to confess that I am truly afraid of only three things: heights, big spiders, and math. I haven't made much progress with the first two, but I have forced myself to get more comfortable with numbers.

At the end of the day, doing good requires money. Nonprofit funding does not grow on trees, much as we might wish it did. If I want to help organizations raise money and make sound decisions, I need to be able to look at budgets, giving histories, and fundraising results without hoping someone else will do the math for me. I still wouldn't call it my favorite activity, but I've learned that the numbers can tell us something useful when we are willing to look.

I often say that I haven't been bored since I was 16. Following my curiosity has led me into some *interesting* situations, including plenty where I did not feel entirely prepared. Sometimes I went because I knew I had something to offer. Other times, I went because I had something to learn.

That willingness to learn is part of why I started SWAN. Small and midsize nonprofits are asked to do difficult things with limited time and resources. We need places to ask questions, share what works, and admit what we have yet to figure out. Getting better at the work sometimes means taking on the task we have been avoiding, whether that is opening a spreadsheet, making a fundraising ask, or introducing ourselves to someone who might become a valuable partner.

This week, I am going to take my own advice in a rather literal way. I plan to stop by a rooftop fundraiser. Anyone who knows how frightened I am of heights may need a moment to recover from that sentence. I have no intention of going near the edge, but I am going to show up, meet people, and see what happens.

Being brave probably will not make the rooftop feel any lower. It does mean I get to decide whether fear makes the decision for me. What could we do if we stopped being afraid?

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