Peter Block, author of Community: The Structure of Belonging, believes that there are five questions that funders often ask that are tip-offs that they are “just not that into you” – if you are someone who believes in the power of belonging to transform community. He described these questions as “funder-code” for not wanting anything to change. Peter shared this provocative idea with us when he visited with us via topical conference call.
What questions did Peter list as funder-code for not wanting anything to change? Here are the five he shared during the call and three more “bonus questions” he added to the list.
- How long will this take?
- How will you take this to scale?
- Can you show me your hard measures for what is going on?
- How did you do your benchmarking?
- Can we frontload this with 6 months of planning?
Bonus Questions:
- How can this be replicated?
- Where else has this worked?
- What are your plans to integrate or merge with others?
If we cross these off our list, what questions would you ask to tap into possibility and build momentum for change?
