A Passionate March - Interview with Jeanne Mancini

In this episode, Andrew visits with Jeanne Mancini, President for the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. Andrew and Jeanne discussed her personal commitment to the pro-life world, how they have transformed their development program in recent years and what it was like to host the president at the March. Jeanne also shared about a very surprising phone call she received the day after the March.

Show Notes:

Jeanne is President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund and has been for the last seven and a half years. They just wrapped the National March in Washington, D.C.

Personal

Jeanne describes her passion for the Pro-Life movement as more of a calling. She describes how God instilled a fervor in her through her Masters program as well as a volunteer program with the Jesuit Corps Formation. While volunteering at a youth crisis center, she was met with kids that were so heart hardened by trauma that it presented the question, would they be better if they had never been born? The truth was given voice when it can down to, who am I to judge a human life?

March for Life

Being president is glamorous functions and cleaning out storage rooms. It's interviews for CNN and picking up garbage off the National Mall grounds. It's a mix of all the good and bad and is made possible by the best team. The best people working together. 

Challenges

In the Pro-Life movement the biggest challenge is division within the movement, competition between groups. Two individuals who have been helpful in fighting back against the competition are Mike Perkins of Heroic Media and Jim Daily of Focus on the Family. Both men have been generous and helpful for March for Life. 

In March for Life, the challenge is that the organization is embryonic, meaning it's still in it's infancy, a very young organization. And there is so much work to be done. It needs a stronger development program. They are currently building their development programs and have new people working on fundraising. 

Fundraising

They are not state funded so funds come from private donations and long-term foundation giving. They are learning to cultivate larger gifts, using direct mailings, a small bit of grant writing and looking to cultivate the Rose Dinner towards an opportunity for giving. 

"Donors don't give to your organization, they give through your organization"

Deciding that fundraising is a call to partnership and not an exploitation of supporters has allowed Jeanne to go from being fearful of fundraising to finding it fun and enjoyable. 

Unite, Equip & Motivate

Through organizational discernment they drilled down to determine what March for Life's essence was, what made them different - the marches. They are called to unite, equip and motivate in the public square. One big way to fight disunity is to figure out your mission, your essence and how to do that to the fullest. Stay in your lane and focus on that. 

2020 March for Life

Every year, the current president is invited to the March, and Trump is the first President to attend. Before Trump and Vice President Pence, the highest ranking White House attendee was staff. Jeanne describes having President Trump attend as surreal but a blessing to be able to allow him the view the passion of the 100,000+ marchers. That is was not political but passionate. He tracked down her number and called her the next day to discuss and process through the event. 

What's Next

Focusing on state and local marches. In 2019, Virginia held it's first state capitol march and in a few weeks will hold it's 2nd Annual March. This year there will also be inaugural marches in Connecticut and Pennsylvania and more. 

Andrew's Takeaways

1. Be passionate about your work and what you are raising money for. Jeanne has had a love for the children and families and the entire pro-life movement for a long time. In our work with nonprofits, and especially with causes like abortion, it can be exhausting doing the work every day. Like she mentioned getting burned out 3-4 years in, it was her passion for the work and looking at her organization in a new way that sustained her. Finding a cause that you are passionate about will sustain you and your work in the same way.
   
   
2. Don’t be afraid of sacred cows. It was great to hear about their efforts to transform the Rose Dinner, an event that was 37 years old, into an event with a different purpose. Many times, we may have ideas for making changes to existing programs, and people push back. That’s not surprising, but if we are truly convicted that it’s in the best interest of the organization to change, we can’t be afraid to take a stand.
   
   
3. Perseverance pays off. Here it is, 46 years after the first March for Life, and they finally had the sitting president attend in person and address the March. There are times when we are working with donors or working on big projects that it never seems like it’s going to happen. Just just remember, a no in fundraising and development work is almost always just a slow yes.

Action item

Let’s focus this week on making a new attempt at connecting with a prospective donor. Go back through your lists or your database and think about someone or a couple people you have always wanted to meet with but they gave you the cold shoulder. Maybe you can try a different approach or maybe timing is just better now. But give it a shot. And if it pays off and you get that meeting, let us know. Send an email to [email protected] or give me a ring. My number is on the website.

For More Information or to contact Jeanne and her team, visit www.marchforlife.org