Fundraiser, You May Have Not Signed Up for This …

There are many different reasons to pursue a job in fundraising. Love of people is certainly one, as is passion for a mission. Some reasons seem less "lofty." For example, I started in fundraising on the production side and simply loved the logistics of taking a mailing from creative brainstorming through analysis of the results.

But when fundraising becomes our career, we often find out that it's a bit like an onion; we discover more that matters as we peel back the layers and look deeper. Fundraising involves caring about people, being a storyteller, using words effectively, understanding financial reports, becoming at least passable in explaining the specifics of your organization's work, and much more.

For whatever reason you became a fundraiser, if you want to grow in the field you're going to end up doing more and learning more than you ever thought you wanted to do and learn. You may not have signed up for these things, but they can help make you a better fundraiser. For example …

Know what others are doing. Your email, letters, events, press releases and everything else you do are not happening in a vacuum. Many of your donors give to and/or volunteer at more than one nonprofit organization. Being aware of what other nonprofits — those in your niche and those that have a large footprint regardless of their niche — are doing is essential because you also need to …

Be committed to differentiation. Sadly for us, too many donors don't really know why Organization A is different than Organization B. Some of that is because of similarity in names or missions. But it is also exacerbated by organizations that don't take the time to clearly define their distinctives. As a fundraiser, make it your passion to understand what about your organization is unique, and then find better ways to explain that in words, pictures, videos — anything other than just expecting the donor or prospect to figure it out.