Would You Eat a Worm?

True, most larger-scale fundraising wouldn’t really benefit from the promise of one of its major players eating a worm, but there is bound to be something off the wall, outrageous, really out there that your organization can use to inspire the kind of determination that Reehl’s challenge did in his students. Would someone shave his head? Or sing a fabulously horrible rendition of “Funky Cold Medina” in a public forum — a cappella? Sure, it’s a stunt that might garner a lot of small donations from people who have no real affinity to your cause — but 1) it could bring in some additional cash, and 2) you have comprehensive new-donor and retention plans in place to nudge those “event” donors into long-term and mutually satisfying relationships with you. (You do, don’t you?) Sometimes, going the extra mile might mean something as mundane as sending out timely, thoughtful thank-you letters, or respecting donors’ wishes about frequency of contact, etc. (though, of course, you should be doing those things already). And sometimes, you just might have to eat a worm.