Some fifty years ago in Bombay, when I first began to meet people to encourage them to support ISKCON, I was guided by the fourth verse of Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Upadesamrta, kindly explained by Srila Prabhupada. It instructed me to reciprocate with the people whom I met in exchanges of love. The more care and affection we gave them, the more they would reciprocate and want to support our cause. And I knew that if they engaged in devotional service, they would enhance their spiritual lives.
dadati pratigrhnati
guhyam akhyati pricchati
bhunkte bhojayate caiva
sad vidhim prithi laksanam
“Offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting prasadam, and offering prasadam are the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another.”
The same six principles apply today. I’ll examine them in relation to cultivating donors in Krishna consciousness and conclude with some thoughts on fundraising in today’s ISKCON.
Dadati: Giving Gifts
Our greatest gift is the holy name, but because many people are at first unable to accept it, we also give them other gifts. I used to carry maha-prasada and tulasi leaves in a silver box, and I would always bring a Krishna conscious book, cassette, or picture. Back to Godhead subscriptions also encouraged people. Srila Prabhupada had stated that the whole purpose of BTG was to get people to chant Hare Krishna. In Bombay he also suggested that we send a monthly newsletter to members, informing them of our latest developments, “so they do not think we are dead.” So, we developed a regular local publication with news, announcements, advertisements, and our yearly audited accounts.
Our experience was that everyone should receive a BTG and a newsletter. Special gifts were given personally and thoughtfully, and the entire basis of our relationship with the donors was how to encourage them in Krishna consciousness. If we’d had any other motive, donors would have perceived our duplicity and the sublime quality of our relationship would have been spoiled.
Pratigrhnati: Accepting Gifts
In other words, when we engage in dadati, offering gifts, we should not be unduly anxious to engage in pratigrhnati, receiving charity. Rather, we should be convinced that by helping people advance spiritually, Krishna will be pleased. And when Krishna is pleased, others are also pleased—and our mission is successful. Pratigrhnati will follow naturally after the relationship is sufficiently developed along the other five principles of loving exchanges.
In practice, after giving someone a gift, I would never accept any payment or donation on the spot, even if they offered it. Only later, when we needed substantial help for a major project, would I ask. By then they were already eager and glad to help.
In one temple I saw this policy work in a practical way. A new devotee took over as the temple’s guesthouse manager. Instead of charging for the rooms, he focused on caring for the guests and asking for donations at the end of their stay. And the guesthouse revenues went up fourfold.
Bhojayate: Giving Prasada
Srila Prabhupada instructed us to hold Sunday feasts and to make a special effort to invite our friends and members to these and other feasts. When special guests would come in Bombay, I would often sit and talk with them, direct the serving, and see that they were satisfied in every respect. Srila Prabhupada himself personally organized the first Life Member feast in Bombay, and he strictly forbade the members from carrying away their dirty plates. He insisted that the devotees, acting as hosts, should perform all of the services for the members, while the members should simply enjoy as guests.
Whenever Srila Prabhupada had special guests, he would insist that they take full prasada. Sometimes members protested that they could not take prasada in front of Srila Prabhupada, but he always insisted: “No, I will be happy to see you take prasada.”
Srila Prabhupada once said, “If you give a man full prasada, he will do anything for you.” I witnessed an example of this recently at a temple that was still being constructed. Seeing guests going to the prasada hall at 6:00 one evening, I asked a devotee if there was a special program. “No,” he said. Guests came every night for prasada—without being charged, and the devotees had raised half the money for the temple without even asking.
Guhyam akhyati prcchatti: Inquiring About and Explaining Confidential Topics.
While offering gifts and giving prasada we also must explain the confidential topics of Krishna consciousness and give donors a solid philosophical background for further devotional service. When the time comes to engage a person in some particular service, we should present the rationale for the service on the basis of reason and philosophy and then disclose our request in a perfectly straightforward manner. When speaking we should present our philosophy very intelligently, without compromise, but to the understanding of the individuals whom we are addressing. This ability develops with our realization of Krishna consciousness.
Through our conversations we should learn to perceive our friends’ doubts about Krishna consciousness even without their expressing them. Then we can speak in such a way as to remove their doubts. During my training in Bombay, I went with a senior devotee to visit a wealthy man who had promised to donate but later reneged. I had expected the devotee to say, “You promised to give. How can you change your mind?” Instead, he just talked with the man for twenty minutes. Then, almost mystically (to me), the man opened his desk drawer and wrote out his check for Life Membership.
When I first went out on my own and asked a man to become a member, he said, “First I have to ask my brothers.” When I came and reported this to a senior devotee, he told me, “That’s just an excuse. You have to be intelligent enough to understand the person’s doubts and address them without him even bringing them up.”
We may invite our friends many times for prasada, or we may visit them many times with gifts, and then we may feel that we should try to engage them in some particular service. Srila Prabhupada had such stature and potency that he would often disclose his mind at the first meeting. But according to our own ability and to the receptivity of the audience, we may choose to disclose our minds at a later stage.
If the proper cultivation has been done and the philosophical background has been presented nicely, our audience may volunteer to help without our even asking. Once, Srila Prabhupada was preaching to Mr. Ratansinh Rajda, a member of the Indian parliament, and during the discussion Mr. Rajda kept asking Srila Prabhupada how he could help. After some time, Prabhupada mentioned that his disciples were having problems getting proper visas for India, and when he did, Mr. Rajda assured him that the situation would be corrected.
When disclosing our minds about a particular request, we want to remember Srila Prabhupada’s instructions on how ISKCON supporters can engage in dadati. In one of our first Life Member meetings, in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada quoted this verse:
etavaj janma-saphalyam
dehinam iha dehisu
pranair arthar dhiya vaca
sreya-acaranam sada
“It is the duty of every living being to perform welfare activities for the benefit of others with his life, wealth, intelligence, and words.” (SB 10.22.35)
Srila Prabhupada explained to the members that first of all, as individual living parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, it is our duty to give pranair, our life. But if we cannot give our life, at least we should give our wealth, because next to our life we value our wealth most. The combined effort of our intelligence, words, and time produces wealth, so by giving our wealth we automatically give our intelligence, words, and time in a concentrated form. Or, we can say that the entire effort that produced the wealth is purified and spiritualized if we give the wealth to Krishna. Now, when we ask people to give their wealth, as Srila Prabhupada said, “Some may challenge, ‘How can you sell God?’ ” In reply, Prabhupada said, we should quote the Bhagavad-gita (9.27):
yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad arpanam
“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform—do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me.”
“And if you have no wealth?” Prabhupada continued. “Then you can give your intelligence. You can advise the devotees, ‘Approach such-and-such person and he can help.’ In this way you can serve by dhiya, intelligence.
“And if you have no intelligence? Then help by vaca, words. You can request whomever you meet, ‘Please chant Hare Krishna. Please visit the temple.’ ”
In this way Srila Prabhupada explained to the members that they could assist the Krishna consciousness movement by their life, wealth, intelligence, and words.
Exchanges of Love
There should be genuine love from the preacher for the member. Love is a big word, I know, but that’s really what it comes down to. There must be genuine care, sympathy, and respect. People in Bombay knew I cared; when there was a death or wedding or other major event, I was always there. One senior devotee taught me that wealthy people are accustomed to people coming to them for their money, so naturally they’re on the defensive. If we do not want them to feel defensive toward us, we must really care for them.
I once approached one of our friends in Bombay for a large donation for Juhu but he was hesitating. Finally I said, “So many people are coming to visit you, but who is thinking of you? They are simply thinking of their own benefit, how they can exploit you, what they can get from you. Perhaps we are the only persons in the world who actually care for your spiritual well-being.” And as soon as he heard these words, he immediately responded, “Yes. I will give.”
Much of Krishna consciousness is based on personal relationships. Thus, it’s generally best if one specific devotee deals with each member. And we must be ready to give ourselves to the members in the way that Srila Prabhupada said: “To make one devotee we have to give seven pints of blood.”
By reciprocating in these exchanges of love with our members, both we and the members will make spiritual advancement. We must simply be concerned for their spiritual well- being, how somehow or other they can be engaged in service to the lotus feet of Krishna. In reply to our sincerity and love, they will certainly respond.
Applying the Proper Attitude
Prahlada Maharaja says in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.9.43, 44):
“My dear Lord Nrsimhadeva, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies, and countries. I am simply concerned with love for them.
“I see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayas or the forest to meditate with vows of silence. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Krsna consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to the shelter of Your lotus feet.”
Srila Prabhupada said, “When you speak to people and by your speaking they are convinced that by giving to Krishna they will gain and they volunteer some service—that is preaching.” Later I considered that in some cases they may be seeking spiritual benefit, and in other cases they might be hoping for material blessings through pious deeds—or both. People come to Krishna for different reasons. Although we don’t encourage the concept of material results for devotional service, people do come with that mentality, and we engage them too.
Once, through some strategy, I met a big man who had been avoiding us. And when, in a rather smug way, he said, “So, what can I do for you?” I replied, “Nothing! Rather, I have come to do something for you.” The man became even more arrogant and challenged, “What can you do for me?” Eventually, though, he did make a contribution.
When Srila Prabhupada heard this account, he said that the gentleman knew that by giving to us he would benefit. “Otherwise, why should he give? Artificially he denied that he would gain from us. But unless he thinks he will profit, why should he spend? Businessmen always calculate their profit and loss, and they never spend unless they think they will gain.”
Then Prabhupada added, “To preach, you have to be humble.” He always emphasized that one who goes to preach or collect must be humble, and he often quoted Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati:
dante nidhaya trnakam padayor nipatya
krtva ca kaku-satam etad aham bravimi
he sadhavah sakalam eva vihaya durad
caitanya-candra-carane kurutanuragam
“Taking a straw between my teeth and falling at your feet a hundred times, I humbly submit, ‘O great personality, please give up all mundane knowledge that you have learned and just submit yourself at the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.’ ”
Srila Prabhupada said, “If you approach people and say, ‘Everything belongs to Krishna, and I am Krishna’s representative, so give everything to me. Otherwise, you are a thief, and you will be punished,’ they may become angry: ‘What do you mean? I have worked hard for my money. It belongs to me.’ But if you approach them humbly and say, ‘Dear sir, I have come begging at your doorstep. Kindly give some donation for our temple,’ he will respond: ‘Oh, a beggar has come. Let me give him something.’ ”
Although, as Srila Prabhupada said, preaching means that a gentleman becomes so convinced about the value of Krishna consciousness that he willingly volunteers to contribute, and although “there is no question of force,” still, Prabhupada did allow that we may “trick,” or “induce,” them. He told the story of a young student who stubbornly refused to learn arithmetic. So, instead of asking the boy what was 4 + 4, his teacher drew a picture of two cows and asked how many legs the two cows had. Thus, through pictures and stories, she gradually taught the boy all the arithmetical processes. When one of the boy’s friends pointed out, “Hey, the teacher is teaching you arithmetic!” the boy replied, “Arithmetic? I hate arithmetic. No. I will not learn!”
Some persons are so averse to serving Krishna that we have to be very tactful and allow them to engage in devotional service without them thinking they are serving Krishna. Still, they will benefit. In other words, our real task is, somehow or other, to engage people in Krishna’s service and help them to advance in their spiritual lives (yena tena prakarena manah krsne nivesayet).
Through ISKCON, members and donors become part of a spiritual family and get the association of devotees, which is crucial for spiritual development.
Life Membership
Since ISKCON’s inception, many donors have become part of ISKCON’s family through Life Membership. In recent years some professional fundraisers have advised us that Life Membership is a good way to start an organization but a bad way to maintain it. I hesitate to think that Life Membership per se is a bad approach, though I agree that it has been misused.
When Srila Prabhupada first introduced Life Membership, Tamal Krishna Goswami pointed out to him that the value of the books we gave the members would eventually exceed the 1,111 rupees members were committing to pay. Prabhupada replied, “The devotees will keep going back to them, and in their lifetimes they will give five or ten times more than the membership subscription.” He also said that we will continue to make new members, so we will always stay ahead. And he emphasized that he had devised the Life Membership program as a means to distribute his books.
In Indore, Srila Prabhupada went to meet an aristocratic man and showed him all of his books. As these were the early days in India and no one else was there to ask the man to become a member, Prabhupada asked himself. When the man said, “Swamiji, we already have these books in our own language,” Prabhupada sat up straight and replied, “I have not come here to sell you some books. I have come begging at your doorstep.” The man immediately understood and agreed to become a member.
From this I learned not only how we have to be humble but also how book distribution is an integral part of Life Membership, and how people will give more based on a relationship than on external benefits.
Understanding the importance of cultivating relationships with donors, when we enrolled Life Member number 1,000 in Bombay, I thought we should stop making new members and should instead concentrate on maintaining the ones we had. Historically it did not work out that way. In many temples, less qualified devotees were enlisted to go out and sell Life Memberships based on benefits such as staying in ISKCON guesthouses. Because there was insufficient training, these devotees looked only to sell memberships, not to maintain the members they made. Thus Life Membership has often turned out to be something different than what Srila Prabhupada envisioned.
It is significant that temples that recruited qualified devotees and trained them to cultivate donors prospered, while those that simply “sold” memberships often struggled. My conviction is that we do have qualified people in our temples, and we can train them to be good preachers who can develop good relationships. Such preachers, as ISKCON Chowpatty has shown, can also come from our congregation.
In short, the principle of care and cultivation is what is truly important.
A Golden Opportunity
Since our success in fundraising is so connected to having meaningful relationships with our donors, an opportunity has developed for preachers in the West that I feel deserves mention here.
Parents, naturally, are concerned about their children. This is an important way we can reciprocate with our congregation. In India we used to point out to people, “Although you are Krishna conscious from childhood, you cannot explain Krishna consciousness in a scientific way to your children, to answer their questions and remove their doubts. We can do that for you.” We would also say, “Because your children are interested in the West, and we are from the West, we can help them to understand the defects and dangers of Western civilization.”
Regarding Indian families that have migrated to the West, some devotees have noted a growing generation gap between immigrant parents and their Western-born children. Not only are the parents concerned about how westernized their children are becoming, but it can work the other way as well: the children are having trouble getting their parents to understand them and what they are going through. We can help the parents by helping their children become Krishna conscious: when the children become inspired in Krishna consciousness, the parents feel better. And we can also help the children by helping their parents understand the pressures Western society puts on them and what adjustments they can reasonably make without compromising their spiritual advancement.
In any case, somehow or other, by helping parents with their children—and children with their parents—they will all feel obliged to us.
In Conclusion
Each of us has a particular idea of ourself that we cherish within our heart. As we speak, we disclose various aspects of this personality. So, if we hear and appreciate another person’s special qualities, that person will think, “This devotee is very intelligent and has appreciated my true nature.”
A devotee once exclaimed, “Srila Prabhupada, everybody likes you!” And Prabhupada replied, “Yes, because I like everyone.”
Let us remember the way Prabhupada welcomed and encouraged us, in spite of the fact that we came from wretched conditions and were full of bad habits. He patiently heard our trials and tribulations, sympathized with and appreciated us, and tactfully engaged us in the six exchanges of love.
Now we have the opportunity to help other people with their spiritual lives. They can contribute so much. Let us remember our own fallen condition and try to please Srila Prabhupada by caring for our special guests in the same way that he would have cared for them—the same way he cared for us.
