When I am helping a leader prepare for a donor conversation, I will often ask:
Can you give me one recent story that shows the difference your work is making?
Often, he pauses, because in that moment, he feels like he needs something that will move the donor. And he may say, “I don’t really have any stories right now.”
So instead of pushing harder, I usually ask a different question: How did you get here?
And if he starts telling me the history of the mosad, I bring him back.
Not the mosad. You.
Why does this work matter to you?
Usually, the answer is not dramatic. It may only be one sentence, or a small moment from years ago. Sometimes, it is something the leader has never thought to say out loud.
But usually, that is where we start to find something.
Most leaders prepare the facts of the mosad. That matters. But they do not always prepare the part that shows what is personally driving them.
Before a meaningful donor conversation, there is another question worth preparing for:
Why does this work matter to me?
That does not mean a leader needs to tell his life story or make the conversation about himself. He is only looking for the small piece that shows the donor why he cares.
I asked a client who ran a kiruv branch why this work mattered to him.
He came from a regular, good, frum home. Nothing dramatic. So when I asked him for his story, he said, “I don’t really have a story.”
I asked him to go back a little. “What was your experience with Yiddishkeit growing up?”
He said, “Nothing really. I went to regular yeshivos. I stayed on the derech. It was all very normal.”
So I pushed a little more, and then he started talking about Shabbos.
The Shabbos table growing up. His father and mother. His siblings. The zemiros. His mother’s chicken soup. The warmth of the family sitting together. The connection he felt.
And I saw the spark. So I asked him what that Shabbos feeling had to do with his work.
Then he said, “That is something I want to share with others.”
That was the story. Not dramatic. Not unusual.
But it explained why the work mattered to him.
That is what I want you to notice.
He thought he had no story. But he did.
He was just looking for the wrong kind of story.
Very often, the story is already there. It just does not look like the kind of story the leader thought he needed.
And many times, that is enough for the donor to understand why he cares so much.
Not instead of the budget, the need, or the plans. Together with them.
So before a donor conversation, it is worth taking a few minutes to prepare one honest answer:
Why does this work matter to me?
Then write down one small moment that explains it.
One sentence. One moment. One small piece of personal connection to the work.
Hatzlacha.
© 2026 Avraham Lewis & Co.