Bounce Back Higher: 3 Steps that Inspire the Spirit of Contribution in the Age of the Pandemic

Can a pandemic really be the best time to change our world for the better? If we won't settle for going back to "before," do we have the right stuff to make the brave leap needed to take advantage of this once-in-a-century moment?

"Bounce Back Higher" tackles these two fundamental questions in a profound little book that is a manifesto and pathfinder for our era. It gives us new insights and answers for a time when global pandemic, economic disaster, political division, and climate crisis pose an existential choice for all of us. This 45-minute read offers a practical guide to finding and harnessing supportive tailwinds―strengths, inspiration, and camaraderie―that can lift us above headwinds.

As the creator of The Philanthropic Quest Strategic Retreat, Jim Lord draws on the latest findings in human and organizational behavior, to show why and how we choose to truly make a difference.

More important, he offers the wisdom gained from fifty years of work with civic leaders and philanthropists from fifty countries, who have given and raised billions for the causes they value. They have taught him more about what motivates people to give than any book, course, or expert he's encountered. In these pages, you also benefit from the consulting that has taken him from smalltown YWCAs to the Vatican and White House.

Jim uses a story in three parts to illustrate a simple journey all changemakers can take. You will learn how to turn the focus from me to we; how changing a single word changed a conversation and a culture; and how you can lead others to find their desire to contribute from within, not through coaxing or coercion. You can do it once you've elicited their "want-to" instead of their "have-to"―by touching on their "why-to".

Three simple but significant steps―clear our minds, go on a walk-and-talk, and elevate higher than ever before―along with four quick questions, and inspiring videos of six courageous leaders who led in difficult days―prepare us to make our most significant contribution ever and inspire others to do the same.

Learn how you can shift your thinking (and others) from the disempowering sense of how much needs to be done to actually see how much we have done. When people remember what they already have accomplished―and their many resources in, and around them―they are more motivated to hear and answer the call to shape a post-pandemic world that is worthy of them. One that is better than we can imagine.

Jim Lord is a global thought leader and the author of the classic book for board members, "The Raising of Money," a foundational text in philanthropy, and the bestselling book on the topic, having helped institutions and causes raise billions of dollars.

All his endeavors began with the question he first naively asked 50 years ago, "Why do people 'give away' their money?" Answering that question has turned into a life's work that has taken him from consulting with small-town YWCAs to the Vatican and White House, and it has brought civic leaders and university presidents from 50 countries to his Philanthropic Quest Strategic Retreat.

He is also the author of "What Kind of World Do You Want?", written after 9/11. "Bounce Back Higher" serves as a prequel and new introduction to that book.