By Steve Harris
(Published in American Journal of Philanthropy in December, 2007)
Is financial development more than just asking people for money? That basic but crucial question faced me as I entered the field late in my career. And I needed a quick answer.
I found it on Christmas Eve while holding a bowl of popcorn.
Our holiday tradition is watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” on Christmas Eve. You remember this classic Capra film starring Jimmy Stewart as broken and befuddled George Bailey who discovers life’s true meaning when a clumsy but lovable old angel named Clarence shows George what the world would have been like if he had never been born. It’s sappy but deftly delivers touching moments and I find myself pulling it out again each year.
When you watch a movie more than once, you appreciate new angles and nuances. Last year I discovered the story’s real hero. Not George. Not even Clarence. But dear, sweet Mary Bailey, George’s loyal and loving wife played by Donna Reed. Mary’s shining moment comes in the film’s finale, and although her screen time in it is brief, it’s unforgettable.
Eight thousand dollars has gone missing from George’s savings-and-loan. The bank examiners are in town and everything’s in a panic. In the next frantic hours George faces financial ruin, gets drunk, contemplates suicide, is touched by an angel, and, finally, straightens out life’s priorities. But George still has a problem—that missing money. A warrant is out for his arrest that could land him in jail. On Christmas Eve, no less.
In steps Mary. With George mysteriously meandering about with Clarence, Mary takes off her apron and goes to work. She gets the word out to family and friends that George is in trouble. Big trouble. He needs them right now. Specifically, he needs their financial help. And it’s urgent. Very urgent.
They respond in a big way. People who care for George, who respect him for the good work he’s done and the good man he is, joyously converge at the Bailey house waving fistfuls of money. It’s a heart-warming scene with lots of laughter and singing and ornament bells ringing and giant smiles all around.
The biggest smile belongs to Mary Bailey. You find her standing quietly next to the Christmas tree embracing her husband and children. She’s absolutely beaming, soaking in the waterfall of love and support flooding into their home.
And there, as I watched that scene, with popcorn in hand, I discovered the answer to my financial development question. I found it in the actions—and the face—of Mary Bailey. I realized I was watching a world-class financial development professional.
What Mary did was simple but powerful. She wasn’t just “asking for money.” She had helped connect a need with a giver, and ended up meeting deep needs in both. And in the process of doing that, something special happened for her as well.
What did George Bailey need? Obviously, for practical reasons, he needed money. But George also needed the support of his friends and loved ones at a crisis point in his life. That’s exactly what he received.
What did his family and friends—the “givers”—need? They may not have realized it, but they needed a way to express appreciation to George for the ways he had helped them in the past. They also needed to say thanks for the blessings in their own lives. And here was a perfect way to do it.
And what about Mary? What was she so happy about? Obviously for her husband, who would be home and not in a jail cell for Christmas. And thrilled, too, for the love and support she was watching him receive from people who meant so much to him.
But I think at least a small portion of Mary’s joy was in knowing she’d played a vital role in all of this. She had taken the initiative to connect the need to the giver. And it worked. That made her feel deeply satisfied as she stood by that tree watching the happy scene unfold.
Look at Mary’s face one more time. That is the smile of a financial development professional who’s discovered what it’s all about. Financial development is connecting a need to a giver for the mutual benefit of both. And when it works, all three parties— the person in need, the giver, the financial development professional—share a joy that, well, makes for a wonderful life.
Thanks, Mary Bailey, for a Christmas story and a career lesson that lasts beyond Christmas Eve. Pass the popcorn.
