"Mind the Gap!" Or don't but be prepared for the cost...

As I sat by this friendly guide in Morocco to watch the sun rise across the desert dunes, another couple huddled up next to us.

I was too tiered to make decent conversation - we had been up listening to music by a campfire and politely rejecting our hosts' request for us to "dance like a chicken" until well into the night. But I mustered a muffled "Hi, we are from London, you?" as I scanned the horizon for any signs of snakes or insects.

“We are from London too they exclaimed!”.

Our guide turned to Ruda and I baffled and his eyes wide with excitement:

“Wait a second, you are BOTH from London?!!!?”

…. We looked at each other blankly, wondering what we were missing.

“And you don’t know each other !?!?!?” he continued.

… Blank stares continued, what was so exciting about that?

“Don’t you meet at the market?” he finally exclaimed.

We went on to clarify that London’s markets and way of living was very different to his experience of a tight knit community spanning at most 10 houses. It was such a warm reminder of long - lost days, where you would know everyone in your neighborhood or village.

I craved that and still do.

I love this story because it also reminds me of just how much we extrapolate our own lived experience and rely on it to interpret or fill any gaps in any information we receive.

Our mind is imbued with values, beliefs, stories and experiences that we project onto pretty much anything and everything we come into contact with.

This matters, because it shapes our worldviews and our decisions. But all to often we forget and make that same assumption as the gentleman in morocco did. "My experience was like this, theirs must be the same - this must mean the same to them."

Problem is, more often that not, it doesn't.

This is particularly relevant if you are fundraising or wanting to get your target audience of donors and philanthropists to “see what’s in your head and your lived experience of the social benefits you create”. It also applies if you are conscious business designing social value strategies for your Corporate Social Responsibilities Outreach trying to understand what communities need. Or if you are philanthropist designing funding pots and outcome strategies for your grants.

So if there is one thing you take away from this short blog let it be: Don’t forget to “mind the gap”.

The risk is if we don't mind the gap, our audience will be left doubting and with no other option but to fill their troubled minds with assumptions based on THEIR experience, not your truth that you are trying to communicate.

And this can be costly and frustrating for both sides. It can mean that charities "leave money on the table" and only get funding for a fraction of the social value and impact they create.

Or it can mean that disagreements and misunderstandings brew, challenging donor - grantee relationships.

So remember you are the expert of your field, of your communities’ needs. What is obvious to you, is not obvious to others. And it is your job to make that obvious and universally understood. You must act as the guide of your land and take funders on a carefully curated journey through your work.

So many times non-profits have told me "I didn't mention that because I didn't think that was of interest to anyone", when to outsiders it was a groundbreaking innovative discovery like a medicinal plant with the power to disinfect hands and save a ton of money on WASH infrastructure!

As non-profit leaders, you are custodians of a treasure chest of knowledge: you have access to communities first hand accounts of their lived experience. You have their trust and their ears. These things are just as precious - if not more - than having the money to fund impactful programmes.

But it is up to you to leverage them and convert them into support and funding to do more of the work your communities need you to do.

The truth is all the money in the world can’t buy you a communities’ trust or heartfelt explanation of their pains, experiences what they needs and want, what they have done to try to solve the problem, what has worked what hasn’t.

Philanthropic money doesn’t really actualize impact. Knowledge and trust among people who are open to solving their own problems with you actualizes impact.

So make sure you don't take that for granted and instead leverage it to raise funding to do more of the work your communities need you to do.

And once you’ve “ minded” the gap why not take it a step further and close that door once and for all, by regularly inviting your target end users to take a seat at the table and create opportunities for them to voice their needs, influence and shape your programme design. This could be through workshops, by having representatives on your board or creating regular communication channels.

I hope this leaves you wondering about all the assumptions you might have made about others and their work and motivates you to be curious enough to close that gap and unlock the deeper partnerships and alignments that are on the other side.

If you are curious on exploring how we can better leverage this knowledge in fundraising reach out in a direct message or type "story" in the comments below and I’ll invite you to a special session I have planned on this.

And don’t forget to follow me Anna Bruni Sabhaney for more social impact and The Confluencers newsletter for more social impact and fundraising stories and anecdotes.

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