A recent post on his Warriors, Workers, Whiners and Weasels Blog, Tim O'Leary takes ad folks to task for ads that are something other than ads -- and therefore fail to do their jobs. Advertising's Dirty Little Secret says:
Many advertising professionals don't want to work in advertising. They want to be filmmakers or fashion designers, and they hijacked advertising to use it as a bridge to their desired careers.
Many fundraisers have a similar "secret" -- they don't want to be fundraisers. (Funny thing is, a lot of them seem to want to be in advertising -- go figure.) So, not liking or respecting their work, they hijack it, trying to make it something else. You know: Fundraising appeals that don't quite get around to asking for anything. Donor communications that read like academic treatises. Massively expensive initiatives to recruit "younger donors" (i.e. cool people like me).
Fundraising may not be a glamour profession. But in terms of meaning, adventure, and adrenaline, it beats nearly everything I can think of. (Opera star probably comes in higher.) So embrace your privileged position as a fundraiser. Thank your deity of preference every time you remember that you could have easily ended up doing something else.
And then do fundraising right.
Technorati Tag: advertising
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