Dealing with Negative Donor

I just left a visit with a prospective major donor to a major campaign. I am exhausted. This was a 2.5 hour long conversation where I was peppered with questions that were all across the board from how a particular client is doing to the specifics of how a parking lot is being repaved (“is it 1 inch or 1.25 from the grass?”) to whether or not I’m any good at fundraising (I am, in case you’re wondering). I don’t mind the questions, even the ones like questioning how good a fundraiser I am, in fact I love the questions because it shows that the prospect is engaging in the conversation. What drives me insane is when the prospect is negative about everything, and comes at everything with that mindset. It is mentally and emotionally exhausting for me to listen to that negativity, but I do my best to soldier on. I present a giving opportunity, listen to the donor, answer the questions that I can, write down the questions I can’t answer to get back to them about, and then I ask for the donation if it seems like an appropriate time. Today that meant asking someone for half a million dollars; tomorrow it means asking someone else for $5,000 dollars.

I’m sure every non-profit has at least one person like this in their database. I am fairly sure that we have a few. It is barely after lunch and I’m mentally and emotionally drained. I learned early on though, that if I let this negativity creep in it can easily grab a hold of my day or even my week and suck the productivity right out of it. To combat that negativity, I take some time to exercise, eat a decent meal, and meditate for a few minutes. I’m sure that seems like I’m wasting time to some, but if I’m going to be at my peak at work, I need to be at my peak in my head too.