June 8, 2015

Fundraisers matter a whole lot. So does the fundraising profession.

I think of fundraisers as change agents. I think of fundraisers as challengers to the status quo. I think of all that power of fundraisers … to ask questions to question questioners. There is enormous power when others think you print money in the basement. So use that power!

Here’s what Rob Hilbert says about fundraisers and our profession: “I think it is incredibly important that we view ourselves as the catalysts, the sparks to amazing discoveries, cures, education, entertainment, experiences, etc. Without the fundraiser, we would be with a lot…a void I hope never exists.”

You know how fundraisers and fundraising are so often trashed by others… Described as used car sales people…beggars…whatever… Like we should be ashamed of our jobs?

When Rob talks with fundraisers about our profession, he often uses a cartoon to show how so many others see us fundraisers. It’s a cartoon by Mark Parisi, Off the Mark. For future reference, it’s cartoon #1987-01-02…about jobs and toilet paper and kleenex… And it’s just great!

Thanks Robert N. Hilbert, CFRE, MinstF (Adv Dip)…Vice President, Iowa Public Television Foundation.

P.S. Rob also introduced me to Scott Siepker, known as the “Iowa Nice Guy.” Apparently Scott has a number of videos under the “nice” category. Rob the fundraiser shared one of Scott the nice guy videos with me. There is some “salty language,” to use Rob’s phrase. But the video is pretty darn funny.

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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