What do you really think fundraising is?

What do you really think fundraising is? What do you think your CEO thinks or your board members? Hey, what do you think donors think?

Fundraising (or fund development, my preferred term) is about the dreams, aspirations, and motivations of your donors. Donors give through your organization, not to your organization. Donors give to fulfill their own desires.

What do I care about? What am I trying to achieve with my life? What worries me and inspires me? Your organization is the means, not the end.

Learn that. Embrace that. Cause if you think it’s about money… If you think it’s about meeting your organization’s needs… If you think… Well, you just aren’t thinking.

Check out Ken Burnett’s 2020 predictions at www.kenburnett.com. (By the way, visit Ken’s great resources site, SOFII, too.) Check out Tom Ahern. Read all my blogs. Read all the blogs I keep telling you to read.

Customer-centered…donor-centered…ring a bell? I sure hope so. Or how can you call yourself a fundraiser?