This past week, I shared one idea with Reb Yehuda, a dear client, that completely changed how he walked into a donor meeting.
He was anxious.
Really anxious.
He told me:
“I feel like I must get 10K from this meeting.
If the donor looks flat or uninterested – I’ll freeze.
My energy will drop.”
Anyone in fundraising knows that feeling.
The tension.
The pressure.
The tightness in your chest when the donor gives nothing away.
The fear of walking out empty-handed.
And that’s when I shared a bitachon shift.
The donor is not the baal habayis on the money.
Hashem is.
Read that again.
The donor is not the baal habayis on the money.
Hashem is.
We walk into meetings thinking:
“I need him to give 25K…”
“So much depends on his decision…”
“If he says no, I’m stuck…”
The moment you hand the donor that kind of power,
your confidence disappears.
Anxiety takes over.
But the truth?
A donor is only a shaliach – if Hashem wants the money to come through him.
Once that sinks in, everything shifts.
Your job is not to create money.
Your job is not to force the outcome.
Your job is simple:
Be present.
Be prepared.
Be real.
The outcome is Hashem’s.
I told Reb Yehuda:
“Walk into the meeting knowing this:
you’re asking the donor –
but the real request is to Hashem.”
That shift melted the anxiety.
Instead of walking in tight and afraid,
he walked in present.
Grounded.
Confident - without being forceful.
No more “I must get 10K from this meeting.”
Just clean hishtadlus.
Not perfect. Just clean.
Clear words.
Calm heart.
And you know what?
The donor feels it.
You feel it.
And the whole meeting becomes smoother, warmer, more human.
Bitachon doesn’t replace effort.
It replaces anxiety.
And that changes everything.
It lets you show up as your best self –
and lets Hashem handle the part that was never yours anyway.
א פריילעכן חנוכה – חנוכה שמח
Avraham
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