Big Fundraising

Switching Careers at the Worst Possible Time | Blue Avocado

Edie Boatman left a for-profit career for fundraising  just as the economy crashed. With irony and humor her First Person Nonprofit essay reflects on her sense of timing and what she's learned so far.

via www.blueavocado.org

Given all the transition I've been hearing about lately, thought you'd enjoy this piece.

I particularly like #1...

Networking is Better in Groups

Back in early November, I asked you all to vote in my LinkedIn poll. The big question?

Is it better to have many one-on-one networking meetings, or pull together 4-5 connections to network with you (and each other) over a specific topic?

And the results are in...

80% of you voted for group sessions vs. one-on-one meetings.

Now we just need to figure out what those specific topics should be. What could be so compelling that 5 of your friends, colleagues and acquaintances would want to get in a room and discuss it for an hour?

Stay tuned for ideas...if you have any suggestions, feel free to post them as comments, or shoot me an email.

True Voice: Not a New Recording Format

Today was the first day in years--yes, years--that I got out of bed excited about what is on my plate. Why? 

I have spent a lot of time over the last two weeks really speaking in my true voice.

Going with my gut.

Playing to my strengths.

Have you ever been in a situation where your gut leads you in a different direction than everyone else, but you went along with the group just to fit in? It happens all the time.

Entrepreneurs follow advice of investors, who may not be nearly as invested in the success of the business as the founder. Could this be why so many new businesses fail?

New students follow the rules of the popular kids, just so they don’t stand out at their new school. Could this be why many kids suddenly stop doing activities they enjoyed/were good at?

Women executives feel the need to follow some rules made up by the male-dominated corporate culture, because someone told them they had to in order to be successful. Catalyst's report, "Women and Men in U.S. Corporate Leadership:  Same Workplace, Different Realities?", found that 81% of women said that "adopting a style with which male managers are comfortable" is an important or very important strategy to advance one's career. Could this be why many companies have trouble achieving their goals?

Now you may be thinking, “What the heck is my true voice? I’ve got one voice I use at work, another voice I use with my kids, a third voice I use with my friends, and a completely different voice I use with my spouse or partner.” I argue that if that’s the case for you, you’re wasting your energy.

So how do you find your true voice? Here are some easy-to-follow steps:

1. Notice when you’re using your true voice. You’ll know by the ease with which your ideas come out, and the lack of nagging your conscience does afterwards. Pay attention and reward yourself for speaking with truth.
2. Trust your gut. Coaches say this a lot. Personal coaches say it to their clients; athletic coaches say it to their greatest performers. We say it for a reason:  it’s true. Your gut really does know what’s right for you. The more you trust it, the more you’ll be able to hear it.
3. Change what you can. If you can rewrite/redo things you did using a false voice, please do so. Note the consequences of putting your message in your real voice.

Now this may sound a bit selfish, but…

Being your best and truest you is the best goal anyone can have. Once you find your true voice and start letting it out on a regular basis, you’ll find great and wonderful things begin to happen.

Quick...tell me what you're expert at.

Working on proposals, and meeting with potential client today. Each day I'm thrilled with the validation of my new direction.

Wordle: Simply, Focus

Ever have those days (weeks?) when you're just not sure what you should be focusing on? One tool that I have found incredibly useful is Wordle. Wordle creates word clouds, which show which words most often occur in a given amount of text. You can Wordle passages, or entire blog feeds. For example, I created a Wordle of one of my first posts to this blog. Here's what it looks like:

I discovered that my words really did not convey what I'd hoped. I wanted to see a stronger emphasis on "helping small organizations".

Individuals can use Wordle to focus their personal missions:  write your mission, then create a word cloud to see if the words you used reinforced what you wanted to say.

Organizations can use Wordle to make sure their missions and values are still a good match with their activities:  create word cloud of your organization's mission and/or values, and see if it aligns with what your team is currently working on.

You can change fonts, color schemes and layouts. Print your Wordle, and/or save it to the public gallery for all to see. Best of all, Wordle is free! Give it a try, and post a link to your Wordle in the comments section of this post.

Staying Motivated in This Economy

I just polled some of my closest colleagues in the fundraising world. I wanted to know what keeps them motivated to do this work, especially in this economic climate. With immense gratitude to those who responded, here is a summary of their ideas:

1. If you're travelling, check out how other organizations are raising money. Local papers, bulletin boards, commercials, news stories, etc. are great sources for new ideas.

2. Do your best to ignore the economic news. We all know the economy is bad, but that does not change our goals. Focusing too much on the headlines can be de-motivating.

3. If you're consulting, check in with past clients. They will usually be happy to hear from you, and catch up. Conversations like this can remind you of the great work you've done, and often lead to a referral!

4. Focus on making one small difference. If you are overwhelmed by the size of the task, focus on the difference you can make with one client, one donor, one volunteer. Suddenly you'll notice the small differences adding up.

5. Make sure you are excited about the mission of the organization you are working with/for. If the mission has gotten stale for you, or has moved in a direction that no longer moves you...perhaps it's time to move on.

If you'd like to share your secrets for staying motivated, please leave a comment to this post. I wish you each every success in achieving your goals (and maintaining your motivation) this year!

Had my mind expanded this week. Excited about the possibilities. What are you excited about?

From AFP: 10 Ways to Boost Online Giving

From the Association of Fundraising Professionals' most recent newsletter:  Top 10 Ways to Boost Online Giving at Year-End. Even if you're scrambling right about now, there are some really useful ideas in this piece to help you regain your sanity before December 31.