Fundraising is not a four letter word…

Welcome!

When I entered the world of fundraising and development, I was recruited as a volunteer onto a team that hated fundraising, hated hosting events, and generally thought of fundraising as their version of a four letter word.

Interestingly, I found the opposite reaction in my own personality. I enjoyed the challenge of developing relationships in our community, transforming the enormous impact of our work into a two minute pitch for network events, and I relished the opportunity to make our events engaging, impactful, and most importantly run smoothly!

Over the course of three years, the first as a volunteer and the next two as an employee, I took this non-profit’s premier event from 100 people and approximately $40,000 in gross proceeds, to over 450 people attending and $140,000 in gross revenue. There was no magic wand or step-by-step guide that I followed. I simply recognized that the non-profit had a solution to a problem that was plauging our entire community and I spread that message in every networking group, chamber meeting, and as many one-on-one coffees as I could manage. The result of these relationships was the word of our event spread organically and many of those 450 people I did not know personally until that event.

Fundraising is not about simply looking at a budget and attempting to fill the columns with tedious and repeative events, rather it is about recognizing the value of authenic relationships that yield results.