The Day the Earth Stood Still

Welcome to this edition of the Click and Pledge's fundraising command center podcast, where we talk the why, the what, and the how in the Click and Pledge's ecosystem.

This is the why series.

Today, we are doing something a little different, a real deep dive. We're gonna try and merge planetary physics with the day to day challenge of keeping donors engaged.

Right. It sounds abstract, but the goal is to get at the essential rhythm that keeps any system alive, whether it's a planet or a nonprofit.

It's this idea that stability isn't about standing still. We kind of think it is.

We do. We assume calm means motionless, but in nature, stability is all about constant moderate motion. You know, long before we had physics, the poets seemed to understand this.

Yeah, we found this amazing Persian couplet by a poet named Kaleem Kashani and it reads almost like a law of thermodynamics. It's just perfect for what we're talking about.

It really is. Now as non native speakers, it's hard to do justice to the original, so we'll stick to the translation.

And the translation is? Mhmm. It's really something.

It is. It says, We live by refusing to settle. We are waves. When we become still, we disappear.

Wow. When we become still, we disappear. That really forces you to rethink things, doesn't it?

It does. And if you look at the physics behind that idea, it all comes down to one thing: gradients.

Okay, gradients. Break that down for us.

A gradient is just a difference. A difference in temperature, in pressure. Think of water flowing downhill. Yeah. It only moves because there's a difference in height, a gravitational gradient.

And that movement is what lets you do work.

So the difference creates flow. And flow creates energy.

Exactly. But if everything flattens out, if it all becomes perfectly even, perfectly still.

Then there's no difference, no flow.

No flow, no work left to do. And here's the critical part, in a living system, no change isn't peace, it's collapse. The wave metaphor is perfect because the second the motion stops, the wave itself is just gone.

Okay, so let's make this tangible. Let's anchor this whole idea with a thought experiment, a real one, based on science, not Hollywood explosions.

Right. The question is simple. What actually happens if the earth stops rotating?

And as we go through this, the question for you listening is, does this sound like you're fundraising when communication stops between campaigns?

So you've got two scenarios. There's a really dramatic sudden stop.

Which is bad.

Oh, catastrophic. I mean, the surface halts, but the oceans and the atmosphere just keep going at a thousand miles an hour from inertia, but that's too violent for our model.

So what's the useful version?

The gradual stop. A slow fade of rotation. Because that lets us see what the spin was actually doing for the system's stability. It's exactly what happens when a relationship goes quiet.

Before we get into the consequences, we should probably set up some terms, a common vocabulary so we can track the physics and the metaphor together.

Good call. So the core motion we're trying to protect, we're calling that spin.

Spin. And that's relationship momentum. It's the steady movement you create with all those interactions between the big asks.

Exactly. And when you lose that spin, the system devolves into what we call straight line wind.

Okay. Straight line wind. That sounds harsh.

It is. It's purely transactional. Ask, receipt, ask, receipt. Just direct unfiltered pressure because there's no relationship to, you know, circulate it or soften it.

Right. And then you have things you can't control like the seasons. We're calling that tilt. Some months are just an uphill battle.

At year end, that's what we call high gravity. Everything's a little easier. Generosity just flows more naturally.

And the big one, the solution, is psychological firewood.

Yes. This is the stored warmth. All the stories, the gratitude, the proof you've been sharing that keeps your donors emotionally connected when things get cold.

Okay. Vocabulary set. Let's go back to our planet. It's slowly stopping. What's the first major thing that breaks?

The first thing you lose is something called the Coriolis effect.

Right, the Coriolis effect. That's one of those terms from science class that I feel like everyone's heard but nobody can quite explain.

Yeah. All it really means is that because the earth rotates, moving things like air and water get deflected, they curve. It's what creates our big weather patterns, the jet stream, ocean currents, all the systems that circulate energy.

So if the rotation stops, the deflection stops.

The deflection stops. The circulation stops. And the wind, instead of curving, just flows in a straight line from high pressure to low pressure.

Straight line wind.

It becomes direct, linear, and ultimately harsh. It's a system without moderation.

And that maps perfectly onto fundraising, doesn't it? Without that relationship spin, every email, every ask has to a direct straight line play. There's no nuance.

None. But that's only half of it. The other thing you lose is the day night cycle.

Oh, wow. I didn't even think of that.

No rotation means you get these incredibly long periods of daylight and darkness.

So one side of the planet is just cooking for months and the other side is in a deep freeze.

For months, yes. The thermal stress would be unbelievable. The whole environment becomes hostile because that moderating cycle is gone. It's an ecosystem of pure extremes.

And that is exactly what we see happen to donor relationships. When the spin stops, the fundraising climate goes extreme.

You get the fundraising version of a long cold night, which is just organizational silence, no warmth, no meaning. Yeah. Your donors go emotionally cold and that connection just withers.

And then suddenly you need money, so you hit the panic button.

And that's the prolonged day. Yeah. All at once it's just too much urgency, too many asks, all this heat trying to make up for the silence, just burns people out.

So if you're wondering why donors disengage even when they love your mission,

this is why. People naturally retreat from extremes. They move toward meaning and stability. No spin doesn't mean nothing happens. No spin means extremes happen and extremes lead to collapse.

Okay, so the mission is clear. We have to build a system that prevents these extremes. We have to keep providing warmth. Which brings us back to psychological firewood.

Exactly. And this isn't just a nice idea. There's actually real science behind why psychological warmth is so important when conditions feel cold.

You're talking about that study, right? The romance movie one?

Yeah, that's the one. It's a 2012 study by Jooan Hong and Ya Cheng Sun. It was published in the Journal of Consumer Research and it's called Warm It Up with Love, The Effect of Physical Coldness on Liking of Romance Movies.

What a great title! So what did they find?

They found that when people were physically cold, it actually made them prefer psychologically warm content. Stories about love, connection, community. They were actively seeking psychological insulation.

That is such a powerful lesson for us. When the fundraising environment feels cold, either because of silence or just the noise of the world, people need warmth. Human stories meet that need.

That's what psychological firewood is. It's the stored warmth. The stories, the gratitude, the proof that keeps donors connected before you ask them for anything.

And the big mistake we see is sending cold messages in cold seasons. You know, a sterile receipt, a generic newsletter.

A deadline with no meaning attached. The information might be correct, but it's emotionally freezing.

So what are some concrete examples of good firewood?

It can be simple. A real story about one person whose life changed. Specific gratitude. Not thanks for your support, but because of you, this specific thing happened.

Using language of belonging, you are a part of this.

And proof clear, grounded proof that the impact is real, delivered with care. This stuff isn't a luxury, it's the energy reserve that keeps the relationship alive.

But here's the reality check, right? Fundraisers can't do this manually every single day, you can't rely on a heroic effort forever?

You just can't. That leads to burnout, which leads to spin collapse, and then you're right back to the extremes of silence and panic.

So if we agree that spin has to be consistent, then we have to have a system, an automaton that sustains the rhythm for us.

Right. We want to build a system that handles the mechanics the humans can focus on the meaning.

In our ecosystem, this starts with the transaction. A tool like click and pay makes sure that the moment of giving is totally frictionless, but we always have to remember.

A transaction is not a relationship.

The relationship is maintained by the rhythm, by the delivery of that firewood.

And that's the whole point of something like an engagement plan in our system. It's the framework that lets you automate the delivery of warmth, proof, and recognition all year long. That's how we recommend implementing it. By automating the rhythm, you protect the relationship.

Yeah. It's not about automating humanity. It's about using the system to protect your team's time so they can focus on the humanity on crafting that firewood that really matters.

So let's boil this all down to a simple repeating cycle. The fundamental motion that creates spin. We recommend running this framework all year long.

Warmth, proof, invitation recognition.

Warmth is the story, the gratitude that makes a donor feel connected.

Proof is the hard evidence that their gift is making a real difference.

Invitation is the ask, but it feels like a natural next step, not a sudden demand.

And recognition closes the loop with specific thanks that reinforces their identity as a change maker.

Let's say it again just to lock it in. This is the cycle that builds momentum.

Warmth the proof, invitation recognition.

If you only ever do the invitation, all you're creating is that straight line wind. Pure pressure. Running the full cycle creates the spin that stabilizes the entire system.

It all comes back to where we started, to that essential ancient principle. We live by refusing to settle. We are waves. When we become still, we disappear.

Remember that no spin doesn't create calm, it creates extremes cold silence, then urgent heat. Psychological firewood delivered by a consistent system is what creates a stable, livable ecosystem where generosity can truly thrive.

For more information about this and all Click and Pledge products make sure to visit clickandpledge.com and request for a one on one training or demo. Whether you are a client or curious about our platform, just ask us, and we will gladly get together with you to chat.

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