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What do you expect?

You’re in shul, and a meshulach comes up to you. He’s collecting for Yeshivas X in Bnei Brak. You glance over his brochure and hand him a couple dollars.

That night, you’re at home when a meshulach knocks on the door.

He looks almost exactly like the fellow you gave to in shul. He’s also collecting for a yeshiva in Bnei Brak. You look over his brochure - which looks almost exactly like the brochure you saw earlier.

And then pull out your checkbook and write him a check for eighteen dollars.

To the guy in shul, you gave a couple of dollars, while the guy who came to your house, got an eighteen dollar check.

Why the discrepancy here?

You couldn’t even tell the difference between these two yeshivos. So why did the guy in shul get so much less than the guy who came to your house?

According to Rav Tzadok HaKohen, because of his expectations.

Rav Tzadok points out that when people collect in shul, they expect to receive small amounts. When they go to homes, though, they expect more.

In other words - we get as much as we think we can. Our expectations determine how much money we raise.

So: what should we do with this information?

First of all… raise our expectations!

Strengthen our emunah that Hashem can do anything, give us endless success in fundraising.

Set our sites higher. Think bigger.

And, of course, keep in mind another Rav Tzadok (Tzidkas HaTzaddik): “Just as a person needs to believe in Hashem, so too, afterwards, he needs to believe in himself.”

We need to raise our expectations of ourselves, too. To believe not only in Hashem’s abundance, but in our ability to be the vessels for that abundance.

Want some concrete guidance on how to go about raising your expectations?

Go ahead and answer these three questions:

  1. Currently, what’s the highest ‘ask amount’ you’re comfortable making from your biggest donors
  2. What ‘ask amount’ would make you uncomfortable?
  3. What’s holding you back from lifting your expectations and being comfortable asking for that higher amount?

May today’s little insight help you expect great things - and receive them! For the good of your organization, and the good of Klal Yisrael.

Hatzlacha!

Avraham

© Avraham Lewis & Co.