LOVING WHAT YOU HAVE

So how about all this rain, huh?  For years, my biggest complaint about living in Los Angeles was the incessant sun, the 72 degree temperature, the weather that really wasn’t weather, but more of a climate.  And then, one day, it struck me that this—this boring non-weather was the real reason I stayed put. 

Until now.  Suddenly, it is like I moved back to Oregon but only in terms of the weather.  And I am finding that, much to my surprise, I am not liking it at all.

Work is often like that.  You get tired, bored, frustrated with what is happening and long for something different, something that can get you excited—and so you change jobs….only to find that you miss the place you used to be.  You long for programs you know and understand, donors who are almost friends, expectations that are familiar.

Fundraising professionals tend to jump jobs every 18 months—which means that they don’t actually create the relationships that cement the donor to the organization.  In my fundraising days, I used to get to know major donors who joked that they had many best friends—the major gift officers who seemed to move around at warp speed, expanding their circle immeasurably.

This isn’t to say that development professionals should stay at their jobs forever. But I do think we need to get better at thinking about how we can improve where we are first and not be so quick to jump ship.  If it can’t get better—the ED is too controlling, the Board disengaged, the resources too thin—if the opportunity is too good, or if the money offered is exponentially more than you are making, go for it, but leave smartly.  Don’t burn bridges and do make sure your donors know that even though you will be gone, you hope they will stay with the organization, and do introduce them—in person, in email, however, to whoever is taking over for you.

When I think back to my time on staff, I wish I had been a little more reflective and a lot less looking toward the next step.

Fundraisers, often, are often chasing the next dollar when what they need to be doing is ensuring that their existing donors are pleased with their gifts and feel that they have done a good thing.  That means not asking all the time but remembering to share with them the results of their generosity and thanking them for being part of your organization’s family.

In short, it means being glad that the sun is shining and the temperature is a pretty steady 72.