121 Giving quotes to help you fundraise

Here's 121 Giving quotes to help you and your development team increase donations.

Fundraising money for charity to help those in need is a blessing.

That however doesn’t make it easy when your profession is good works and active charity. Closing the sale in for-profit and non-profit ventures takes an absolutely mindset approach.

If you’re a development director or fundraiser, that puts you in an elite class as some of the best closers in the sales business.

You simply have a different title.

Your Purpose

No doubt you have a purpose of life. Service of others drives you. It’s 2nd nature for you to make great things happen with a simple act of kindness serving others. You feel as if your mission is to make this world a better place.

If any of the above describes you, this list of inspirational and giving quotes is meant to help keep you going when you have "one of those days."

Is Your Fundraising Stuck?

Perhaps you were told "no" one too many times today.

Or your fundraising campaign isn't raising a lot of money falling short of your expectations.

I understand all this so well. My wife Jenny raises funds for her nonprofit, the New Orleans Ballet Association, starting at zero every year.

While the main part of her job as a dance presenter is to put dance companies on the main stage, she's driven by the free dance education programs her organization provides to the kids in the community. I've seen her ups and downs on the fundraising journey. It's not easy as you know.

Experiencing Jenny's passion making a positive change in those kids lives drives her. Seeing her overcome the challenges almost daily inspired this list below.

Your Fundraising Mindset Matters

Mindset is everything to jumpstart your day and keep going. Below you will see some leaders whose inspiring quotes may provide you with a pick me up.

Their good actions have changed the world we all live in for the better today. Lending a helping hand defines their lives.

Fundraising quotes to keep you going!

Mother Teresa

She was a Nun who was canonized Saint Teresa after her death. She founded the order, The Missionaries of Charity, to look after abandoned babies and to help the poorest of the poor". She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

1. “We fear the future because we are wasting today.”

2. “If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.”

3. “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”

4. “Some people come in our life as blessings. Some come in your life as lessons.”

5. “Peace begins with a smile.”

6. “Work without love is slavery.”

7. “Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.”

8. “There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those.”

9. “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.” Mother Teresa

10. “Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it.”

Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a German Jewish girl who was a victim of the Holocaust. She’s famous for keeping a diary when her family went into hiding for two years to avoid Nazi persecution. Her writings were published as The Diary of a Young Girl.

11. “No one has ever become poor by giving.”

12. “Because paper has more patience than people. ”

13. “I've found that there is always some beauty left -- in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”

14. “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”

15. “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”

16. “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”

17. “Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn't women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?...Women, who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together!”

18. “I think a lot, but I don't say much.”

19. “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

20. “Memories mean more to me than dresses.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is regarded as one of the twentieth century's greatest spiritual and political leaders. He is honored as the father of India. He pioneered and practiced the principle of Satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass nonviolent civil disobedience.

21. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

22. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

23. “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”

24. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

25. “Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

26. “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”

27. “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

28. “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”

29. “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

30. “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

Maya Angelou

She was a political activist, a dancer, a singer, a scholar and a poet. She became a world-famous author known for autobiographical writing style.

31. "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."

32. "The needs of a society determine its ethics."

33. "Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

34. "You can never be great at anything unless you love it."

35. “Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you've got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.”

36. "Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood."

37. "I’m grateful to be of use. I will not be misused or abused, but I will be of use to anybody.”

38. "Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."

39. "The greatest gift we give to each other is the telling of the truth."

40. "Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity."

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was a writer, orator, statesman and inspirational leader who led Britain to victory in the Second World War. He served as Prime Minister twice.

41. "If you are going through hell, keep going."

42. "All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope."

43. "The price of greatness is responsibility."

44. "Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.

45. "The empires of the future are the empires of the mind."

46. "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

47. "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, it’s also what it takes to sit down and listen."

48. "I never worry about action, but only about inaction."

49." It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required."

50. "It is better to be making the news than taking it; to be an actor rather than a critic."

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is one of Britain's most famous authors writing Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol. Both are widely read to this day. He faced the realties head on many other writers avoided sharing the lives of the poor.

51. “My advice is, never do to-morrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!”

52."Nothing that we do, is done in vain. I believe, with all my soul, that we shall see triumph."

53. “I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.”

54 "Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

55. “A loving heart is the truest wisdom.”

56. "He knew enough of the world to know that there is nothing in it better than the faithful service of the heart."

57. "There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,’ returned the nephew. ‘Christmas among the rest. . . . And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!‘”

58. “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humor.”

59."It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."

60. " I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape."

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King, Jr. - His voice resonates to this day as a world renowned civil rights leader. His speeches live on. Using peaceful protests in the mid-1950s, Dr. King led the movement to end segregation and counter prejudice in the United States of America.

61. "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

62. "Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude."

63. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

64. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

65. "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle."

66. “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

67. "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

68. “The time is always right to do what is right.”

69. "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

70. “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was 16th President of the United States in 1861. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation that gave slaves their freedom in 1863.

71. “You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry.”

72. “He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”

73. “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”

74. “Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”

75. “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

76. “Every man’s happiness is his own responsibility.”

77. “I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.”

78. “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.”

79. "I do the very best I know how–the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end."

80. “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

She was the First Lady to the United States married to Franklin D. Roosevelt. In her role as First Lady and years following, she advocated for expanded roles for women in the workplace and for the civil rights of African Americans and Asian Americans.

81. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

82. "It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it."

83. "Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes.”

84. “You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude”

85. “It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.”

86. “What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?”

87. “Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”

88. “It is the person and not the sex which counts.”

89. “The giving of love is an education in itself.”

90. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.”

Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller . Due to an illness, she lost her sight and her hearing at 19 months old. That did not prevent her from becoming an American author, a political activist, a disability activist or lecturer.

91. "All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming."

92. "We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough."

93. "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

94. "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart."

95. "Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye."

96. "Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."

97. "While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done."

98. "Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."

99. "When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don’t see the one that has opened for us."

100. "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

Kahlil Gibran

He was a was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, visual artist, and a philosopher. He’s best known as the author of The Prophet. He published his book in 1923. It went on to be one of the all-time bestselling books in history translated into more than 100 languages.

101 “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”

102. “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.”

103. “I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.”

104. “Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.”

105. “Rest in reason. Move in Passion.”

106. “The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.”

107. “A man’s true wealth is the good he does in the world.”

108. “Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.”

109. “Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.”

110. “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”

Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead was an American anthropologist. She commented on a wide array of issues including women's rights, race relations, world hunger, nuclear issue, and environmental pollution. She’s best known for her studies of the peoples of Oceania.

111. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

112. “Laughter is man’s most distinctive emotional expression.”

113. “We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.”

114. “If the future is to remain open and free, we need people who can tolerate the unknown, who will not need the support of completely worked out systems or traditional blueprints from the past.”

115. “Even though the ship may go down, the journey goes on.”

116. “It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.”

117. “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”

118. “Never depend upon institutions or government to solve any problem. All social movements are founded by, guided by, motivated and seen through by the passion of individuals.”

119. “I measure success in terms of the contributions an individual makes to her fellow human beings.”

120. “I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce.”

That last quote(120) from Margaret Mead is for my wife Jenny. She’s tiny but fierce with a witty sense of humor like Margaret.

As I compiled this list, I kept thinking of my wife and others I know who work tirelessly in the non-profit world. In my mind the work they do defines the true meaning of life.

In a word, service.

The most beautiful compensations of life are through service.

It’s more than a single moment, a single good deed or a single charitable act.

It’s an on-going process that never ever lets up to help the less fortunate or those overcoming a certain challenge.

To be candid, it’s relentless.

The needs are endless.

121. Albert Einstein Too to Finish Strong

I'll close with the 121st quote on this page from Albert Einstein, " I believe in one thing - that only a life lived for others is a life worth living."

Much love and make it a great day!