Many of you may not know this, but I was a commercial photographer in an earlier life before my foray into the nonprofit world over ten years ago – making my living by taking pictures for national advertisements in collaboration with advertising agencies and publishers. It was a great time for sure, for both myself and my family – and I felt inspired during those years, and continue to be inspired, by one particular photographer named Henri Cartier-Bresson.
He is simply the best there is/was. He inspired many before and many after me. He took photojournalism, and the art of photography itself for that matter, to a new level. But what he is most known for is what has been coined – The Decisive Moment. But rather than me explain what that is let’s listen to how Henri Cartier-Bresson describes it in an interview in 1957 –
“Photography is not like painting,” Cartier-Bresson told theWashington Post in 1957. “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative,” he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”
It’s that special “fraction” of a second that is so important. It’s that simple, fleeting moment that when captured “makes” the picture. The DNA of the photo, the personality of the photo is captured in that “decisive moment”. Look at Cartier-Bresson’s photography and you will understand that it’s that particular moment in time, not the moment before nor the moment after, that is the critical point in time that matters above all other moments. That moment never existed before and never will exist again. Period.
So what does this have to do with fundraising?? Good question, one I thought you would never ask. Well, let me assure you there is a correlation.
In fundraising we often say we need to provide the right message, at the right time, to the right audience, through the right medium… Could there be a more Decisive Moment in time for fundraisers? Well, for us fundraisers there really isn’t. So whether you are doing fundraising through direct mail or through the internet or through major gifts solicitations, or perhaps all of the above – the magic happens when you actually line up all your efforts to that decisive moment in time that simply works… you know those times – those times when the personal donor visit and ”ask” went exceptionally well, or the direct mail and online appeals hit the homes and resonated with the donor in such a profound way that giving went through the roof, or when the major gift officer worked the “moves management” process exceptionally well .
Those are the moments we need to strive for.
No, its not easy to say the least. But As Henri Cartier-Bresson did, you must hone your skills and craft over time and develop a keen eye/intuition as he did, for what works at what moment in time. This is the art to the science in fundraising that can’t be overlooked. So, see you are an artist after-all!
Good luck!