Five secrets to fundraising happiness

Personally, I think working in fundraising is a pretty sweet life. If it's anything less than that for you, here are five things you should consider doing:

1. Respect your craft.

If you're embarrassed to ask for money ... if you think direct mail is tacky and awful ... if you think fundraising is a necessary evil that besmirches your reputation and annoys donors ... well, you aren't going to be happy. Get right with the profession. Love it. That's the only way to do great work, and it's the only path to personal fulfillment in the job. (See also Cruelty to Donors?.)

2. Concentrate on lifting revenue, not lowering cost.

Sure, you can increase your net by lowering your costs. But the rewards of that approach are extremely limited; you can only lower costs so far. The better way to improve your bottom line is to seek opportunity; be willing to take risks; think like an entrepreneur. It's more fun than shaving pennies off of your direct mail packages. And it works better. (See also What to measure in fundraising.)

3. Embrace your right brain.

Facts and logic don't make good fundraising. And that bothers many people in the profession. They spend their entire careers fighting basic human brain structure and try to motivate donors' left brains into giving. That's just slamming your head against the wall. It hurts. If you can cultivate a love for the emotional, you'll raise more money and have a lot more joy in your life. (See also Emotion powers the fundraising engine.)

4. Say thank you.

Your mom isn't the only one who thinks this is a good idea. Donors who are told their gifts are appreciated and their gifts make a difference are stronger donors. Put some energy into thanking donors and reporting back to them the impact of their giving. You'll feel better about asking when you know you're going to close the circle by thanking donors. (See also Are your receipts a positive experience?)

5. Eliminate group-think.

Imagine a life where you don't have ponderous, long meetings. Where great ideas take wing. Where you operate in your strength. That's what you can have if you have decisions and thinking done by individuals instead of committees. (See also Death by committee.)

Okay, these things may not quite feel like kicking back on an uninhabited tropical island, but they are an important part of enjoying a wonderful life in fundraising.

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