December 23, 2009

Here’s an important thought from a CT fundraiser: “Our profession can be so damn dry! Sometimes I feel like I’m in a room of bankers. My first career was as a start-up entrepreneur and I bring the passion for movement and change to mission-driven causes.”

I think this is an insightful and thought provoking comment. Why are you in this business? How do you behave? What do you show your donors and your staff colleagues? How do you express emotions and validate emotions?

What do you talk about with fellow fundraisers – strategies to negotiate a major gift or how to engage people in passionate conversation that follows their interests? (I hope your answer is “both!”) How do you share your case for support – like an investment portfolio or like a novel? (The answer should be more like novel. You’re telling stories, not offering an IPO.)

How can our work be dry? Our work is full of the interests and emotions of others – and our own.

Filed under: Leadership

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About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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