Outrageous Hope Award Winner: Holly Ross!

Damn, I knew there was an award I was forgetting about. It came to me at last year's Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco, early one morning as I was watching a video of NTEN Executive Director Holly Ross bumping and grinding her way through a gem of a remake of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video.

It was fun, but it wasn't just for fun. Nope, Holly put it all on the line (and into a kicky little dance outfit) to help raise money for the NTEN scholarship program to send 57 nonprofit folks to NTC. The deal: If the scholarship drive raised $10,000, Holly would do the video.

It did... and so did she.

Anyway, the award I thought of as I was watching Holly upholding her end of the deal was something like the "Ballsiest, Most Deliciously Outrageous and Inspirational Influence Award."

And then, of course, our 2010 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards rolled around and I forgot to include it.

But I'm officially rectifying my oversight and naming Holly FS' very first "Ballsiest, Most Deliciously Outrageous and Inspirational Influence Award" winner. (Or maybe we should shorten it to the Outrageous Hope Award?)

I'm having fun with this, but seriously ... are you or any member of your staff (fundraiser or not) ready to go to such lengths to push your mission or further your fundraising? If not, it might be time to shake things up a bit.

And here to justify the honor is Holly in the announcement of this year's scholarship fund. (Hm, I'm sensing this might have to be a team category next year.)

Enjoy. And by all means, donate! (Your gifts will be matched by Convio, and you'll have a chance to name someone you'd like to see roped into — um, I mean, invited to join — this year's video.