New Journey
Fundraising is not the profession most people consider when interested in a nonprofit career. Every fundraiser has a story of how they entered the work. My story began as I was en route to being an executive director and fell in love with fundraising along the way.
Many years ago, our pastor invited a guest preacher to our church at a Sunday morning service. The guest preacher had also founded a Christian school. At that time in my life, I wanted to start a performing arts school. As a proud alumna of a performing arts school, I was excited to meet someone living my dream. I don't remember if it was a soul-stirring sermon, but I do remember rushing across the aisle for a chance to speak with him after service. I waited patiently in the receiving line, and when my turn finally came, I was a bit anxious and somewhat intimidated. He was a tall man, very stately with a big voice. I thanked him for his sermon and shared with him my dream to start a school. I asked if he had any sage advice, he leaned in towards me with great intensity and responded, "Honey, you better learn how to fundraise." And the rest is history.
At the beginning of my career, I was pretty confident in my desire to become an executive director. But over time, my interest in starting a nonprofit waned. I found a great deal of fulfillment and satisfaction, engaging donors, and funders. I wasn't sure I wanted to divide my time with the responsibilities of being an executive director. Although I respected the leaders' dedication and commitment, the position no longer appealed to me. It was clear from the very beginning fundraising was the right path for me.
I love fundraising. I really enjoy meeting new people, building relationships with donors, volunteers, and board members committed to a mission and purpose. Sometimes, the work was challenging. There have been significant studies on the sector-wide concerns about fundraisers' experience, and my experiences were no different. Over time with increased responsibility, I noticed many leaders and boards were not always comfortable with fundraising. Frankly, sometimes fundraising felt like a four-letter word. Individuals' reluctance to fundraise was not reflective of their passion and dedication to the organization but just limited skills and experience. I saw this as an opportunity to develop trainings and provide opportunities for staff, leaders, and board to learn fundraising skills and best practices so they could discover their fundraising style. To witness reluctant attitude shifts to positive outlooks and excitement to invite others to give has always been a rewarding experience. When you co-create a culture of philanthropy throughout an organization, you know the impact will resonate for many years to come.
These experiences and numerous other opportunities to work with donors, funders, and philanthropists over the past 19 years has inspired me to start my own consulting business. Consultants have the unique opportunity to work closely with multiple people and organizations and make a broad impact on the field. I look forward to the work ahead.
I remember like it was yesterday that Tuesday morning in September 2001, when I walked through the doors of my first fundraising job. I had no idea of the road ahead of me. It was just one week before the 9/11 attacks. Before I could articulate the organization's mission and programs, we had to respond to a national tragedy. It was a challenging time to enter the field; however, I learned so much from that experience. Our organization had to refocus and realign fundraising strategies and messaging because the world around us had come undone.
Nineteen Septembers later, once again, our world deals with the unimaginable. The COVID pandemic has created a crisis that no one in our lifetime has ever experienced. But just like our communities responded after 9/11, nonprofits, communities, donors, and leaders will continue to rise to the occasion.
As I walk into this exciting next journey, I do so with the same optimism and purpose that I did many years ago. The difference this time, beyond a few gray hairs, is I know for sure the experiences, and the people I meet along the way will make life and work so much richer.