Welcome to

Fundraising!

Advice for New Fundraisers From the

Fundraiser Grrl Community

Hello fundraiser,

Welcome to the beautiful,

crazy, amazing, maddening,

inspiring career of being a

fundraiser.

I wish you success with all of

my heart.

<3 Fundraiser Grrl

"Always be excellent at what you are doing, no

matter what it is: from writing a thank you

letter, to updating the database, to asking

for a major gift – do the best job you can of

every task you are given,

Always be helpful: find ways to improve the

lives of the people you work with: your

donors, your bosses, your program staff, the

front desk assistant.

Always be planning your next vacation: take

care of yourself. Have something fun to look

forward to on the horizon."

-Rory Green

Create relationships with your donors. Be very

present with them... they can tell when you are

authentic and are truly listening to them. If you

are, you will learn so much more about them!

After a meeting, make a verbal (recorded) note to

recall all they shared - lots of subtle but

important info is shared during a conversation.

Back at the office, site and write a TY (email,

notecard) for taking the meeting and recap

anything you said you would do for the donor.

THEN enter your notes. Whether the meeting was

with a donor, volunteer, alumni or champion.

-Beth Ann Locke

Be gracious with your

colleagues - you need to build

relationships there too and

fundraisers should always be

setting the bar for

collegiality.

Go the extra mile - or

kilometer - every time.

-Beth Ann Locke

"Building relationships

with donors is the

NUMBER ONE thing that

will guarantee success."

-Sara Krynitzki

"Get a mentor and take

advantage of all the

opportunities available

for professional

development"

-Kelly Olsen Hutchinson

"Nothing is more

important than a thank

you. And there's no such

thing as 'Over Thanking' "

-Alex Morgan

"Do not be afraid to be

different,, to do what no

one else has done

before. "

-John Steckley

"Read blogs regularly that share

what other fundraisers are doing

& if it's successful. Then network

in person at Young Nonprofit

Professionals Network and/or

Association of Fundraising

Professionals events in your

area."

-Danielle Kempe

"The right cause, the

right fundraising

channel can come

later...

find the right boss!"

-Fraser Green

"Read blogs regularly that share

what other fundraisers are doing

& if it's successful. Then network

in person at Young Nonprofit

Professionals Network and/or

Association of Fundraising

Professionals events in your

area."

-Danielle Kempe

"Do not take a "no" personally. Know

that, if you're doing your job right

and you are passionate about your

cause, there could be a hundred

different reasons why that donor is

saying "no" at this point, none of

which are a negative reflection of

you as a person or you as a

Development professional."

-Melanie Lambert

"Challenge assumptions and

don't ever settle for "we've

always done it that way"

and also good donor

relations will get you

further than anything!."

-Lynne Wester

"Try and read at least one

good fundraising blog or

article each day - use Twitter

to find them! Too many

fundraisers have no

knowledge hinterland and so

it'll put you streets ahead!."

-Adrian Salmon

"Never bookmark a funder's

website - guidelines and

deadlines may be updated

while you are viewing a

cached page, missing the

new info!"

-Sarah Vanessa

" Join the Association of

Fundraising

Professionals and follow

all of the #AFPeeps on

Twitter."

-Josh Hirsch

"Don't let the fear of the "no" hold you

back and don't let the rush of the "yes"

be the reason you go into the office.

Get your meaning from the front line

work (whether it's that student being

the first person in her family to

attend university, or that single mom

who now has housing) , let it guide

you and your donors every day."

-Keels Marie

" Double tripple check the

spelling of the person's

name you are communicating

with! There's no easier way

to alienate someone right

off the bat."

-Sarah Vanessa

"Buy The Zen of

Fundraising by

Ken Burnett."

-Laua Croudace

"Ask questions. "why do we do ot like

this?" or "why is that?" will provide

you with untold amounts of info about

your team. Get on the phone to donors

and supporters - offer to do the thank

you calls one week. Find out WHY your

supporters love your cause and it'll

help you tell them the right stories

back."

-Sarah Goddard

"Team up with a really good

communications

consultant.

Communications is the

"easy button" for raising

money from donors."

-Dennis Fischman

"What you like and what

feels right isn't

necessarily good. A lot

of fundraising is

counter-intuitive."

-Simon Scriver

"What you like and what

feels right isn't

necessarily good. A lot

of fundraising is

counter-intuitive."

-Simon Scriver

"Be prepared to do

everything and

anything."

-Genny

Alexander

" Know that you WILL make a

mistake at some point. You will

make an ask at a wrong time. You

may even (gasp!) miss a grant

deadline. But you will learn from

those mistakes and move forward

to be bigger and better! Don't let

fear hold you back."

-Alison Eby Gerardot