"I'd Rather"
But first a bit of a story for you. I remember growing up in Vermont with my two brothers. One of them absolutely hated playing baseball so he got demoted to center field. One afternoon he basically fell asleep and a pop-up ball actually landed in his glove without him knowing he had caught it.
He was sleeping standing up and really did not notice that he had caught the ball. Regardless, he was uninspired by his amazing catch and I knew he was not paying attention. It's just like him to catch a ball when not paying attention. Anyway, he sat out the next game and stopped playing altogether shortly after.
My brother is a very inventive person and surely was trying to figure out some way to improve the game of baseball and couldn't so he gave up on it. He has a long history of "I'd Rather's" involving creating things with wood, metal, electronics and computers so that he has a lot of control over fixing things and doing it his way instead of the way they were intended to be used.
But some things are just like the game of baseball. They are figured out and committed to and basically they are the way they are. It doesn't make much sense to say "I'd rather play baseball if I could run around the bases backwards". Naturally, the organized game of baseball has no interest in such a pursuit so you will not be playing anytime soon.
This word "I'd Rather" is quite damaging to school fundraising as well as other charitable giving as well. It's basically an excuse, a resistance. It's a little voice inside ones head that tells someone that things are not going the way they want them to. The immediate response is to resist by suggesting another way to participate.
It leads to folks not taking action because they disagree with the rules of the game. Hold on though. It's not really the rules of the game that someone is disagreeing with. It's just a reaction to being approached with something a person doesn't want to deal with.
My brother disliked baseball long before he was basically making amazing plays without even knowing it. He had a choice to take things upon himself and ultimately gave up on baseball.
When it comes to school fundraising and other generous giving, push through and don't let this crazy feeling of resistance turn an otherwise successful fundraiser into wanting to participate in another way.
It's the same thing as my baseball analogy above... if a person waits to give to a school or charity under the "I'd Rather" terms, there will be no giving anytime soon.
So, if this is you and you feel this way, push through and when you hear the dreaded "I'd rather" resist it and go with the flow, make your donation and take your tax writeoff. I promise it feels better than trying to figure out a way to donate under your own terms.
What are your thoughts on charitable giving, fundraisers and the feeling we get telling us to say "I'd Rather". Please leave your comment below. Thanks for looking!
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