Tough Choices Can Lead to Big Payoffs in Your Fundraising Career

As fundraisers, we can get caught up with the strategic planning for our programs and achieving our quarterly goals — so much so that we neglect any intentional effort to manage our own careers. We still grow and get recognition, but it may be more haphazard because we couldn’t find enough time to develop a plan for our own career. If you’re stuck in that whirlpool, here are some non-time-consuming ways to manage your career and, therefore, impact your future.

Update your résumé every six months
Gasp! Quick, supervisors, hide this article from your team! Wait!! I’m not saying to update your résumé and start “shopping.” It’s just that the worst time to try to update your résumé is when you’ve just been laid off or told your company is moving to Siberia in six months (Nothing against Siberia. I’ve been there; it looks like Northern Wisconsin. But I don’t want to live there.)