Experts



Inhale exhale.

Inhale exhale.

Inhale exhale.

Ok, now I’m not quite so frustrated or angry anymore.

Let me explain:

I don’t like to brag, so I’m not bragging.  I am a highly educated, highly qualified, professional non-profit fundraiser.  I have 2 bachelor’s degrees, an executive MBA, and a certificate in fundraising management.  My brain is worth $200,000 and I have the student debt to prove it.  I have been doing what I’m doing for nearly 20 years.  I’ve raised tens of millions of dollars for national and local organizations.  All that to say, I know what I’m doing. 

And yet, every so often, I recognize that it’s helpful to get an outsider’s opinion.  Someone who’s never heard of me or my organization.  Someone who has experience in a different area of business or fundraising or non-profit management.  I don’t pretend to know it all. 

I felt this way about my recent effort to seek corporate support for our fall fundraising event, ThanksLiving.  It’s, without a doubt, the most interesting, unique event I’ve ever had the pleasure of planning and executing (and I HATE events!).  If any of you were following me on social media in 2020, I practically threatened you into registering for our virtual version. 

I won’t bore you with the technical details—well, maybe a few.  I wrote two versions of a letter.  I created two lists of businesses that might be interested in helping.  I was uninspired.  I was too close to it.  I needed the thoughts and feedback of someone with some distance.  I have a solid strategy but wanted feedback on my letter.  But who could help?

There’s this nifty platform that I have access to that gives professionals the opportunity to offer their expertise to non-profits in a voluntary capacity.  We, in this space are often short staffed, over worked and lacking in luxuries that for-profit companies take for granted.  We don’t have a chief financial officer.  We don’t have a graphic designer.  We don’t have a custodian.  We don’t have a receptionist.  We need all of those people, but we make do with those we have.  So, when I NEED a graphic designer, or a video editor or the opinion of an expert, I can go to this platform, post what I need and see which folks who’ve volunteered to be available might be a good fit.  Needing extra hands or brains doesn’t mean I’m stupid.  It doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do my job.  It doesn’t mean I don’t have a clue.  It means I’m seeking feedback.  That’s it.

I found a few experts—decades of experience.  DAYS worth of volunteer hours.  Local even!  And they’re volunteering!  Amazing.  I request an hour consult with two of them, sent over my materials, an overview of what we’re doing and our strategy (so we don’t have to waste time on our one hour call) and wait.

In a few days, I have calls scheduled.  Great!  I can get some feedback on my letter and get it out the door in a week or so!  Our fall expenses will start piling up and we need the funds to keep the animals happy and the kids coming.

I’ve taken 2 of these calls as of today.

The first one went something like this.

Me:  Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, I really appreciate your generosity.

Him:  Happy to help!  I’ve done about 80 or so of these calls and I’ve already drafted some ideas for you.

Me:  Wonderful!  I can’t wait to dive in.

Him: Well first I want to tell you that you really should be building relationships with your donors.  You can’t just start by asking for money.

Me: Yes, I agree with—

Him:  No one likes to be treated like an ATM and if you just jump right in asking for money from people you got off of some list you rented, they’re not going to respond.

Me:  Well actually, these are people we know rather well and—

Him:  New donor acquisition is a delicate science, and you really should have a consultant working with you to help you navigate this.  It’s not something an inexperienced fundraiser should be managing.

Me:  I completely agree.  I’ve been in this space for—

Him:  Maybe you could tell me what you’re hoping to get out of our time together.

Me:  (Inhale, exhale)  Well, as I said in my email, I was hoping you could review the letter I drafted—

Him:  You need a solid list of prospects…

I stopped listening at this point.  Afterall, he’d stopped listening before I even said hello. 

The second call went something like this:

Me:  Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, I really appreciate your generosity.

Him: Oh, I’m happy to do it.  Tell me about you and your organization.

Me:  Well, I’m the development director for Indraloka Animal Sanctuary.  We’re a non-profit farm animal rescue that advocates for a compassionate lifestyle.  We rescue farm animals from abuse and neglect and invite children to participate in our programs that teach empathy, compassion, communication, and kindness. 

Him:  That’s wonderful!  Tell me what you’d like to get out of this call.

Me:  (this was going much better!) Well, I was hoping to get your feedback on a letter I’ve drafted seeking support for our largest fundraising event of the year—our ThanksLiving celebration.  It’s well recognized in our community and we get quite a bit of local and national return support.  But—

Him:  So, you want to widen your scope.  You need to do a press release!

Me:  Yes, we’ve done that.  Where the opportunity is—

Him:  Because you want to cast a wider net.  You need to find the big companies in your area—where are you again?

Me:  We’re in Dalton, near Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Him:  Oh.  The Steamtown Mall?

Me:  Well, sort of. That’s nearby.  We have a lot of support from people outside the area but what we’re trying to do is—

Him:  If you could get more press contacts you’d have a better chance of your piece getting picked up.

Me:  We actually have a robust press list and have recently added more national contacts but—

Him:  You can subscribe to a list that will give you email addresses for press contacts.

Me:  Yes, that’s how we’re already connecting with the press.

Him:  Because email addresses are PRICELESS.

Me:  Yes, I agree, which is why we’ve focused on—

Him:  You really need to increase your press contacts so—

Me:  I’m sorry to interrupt but what I really need is feedback on the letter I sent you.

Him:…oh…letter?

Me:  Yes, I emailed it to you yesterday.

Him…oh…can you resend it?

Me:  Sure!  Just did.

Him:  Oh…I can read this and get you feedback by Friday.

Me:  Great!  Thank you! 

Inhale exhale.

Did I mention that I’m highly qualified at what I do?  I think I’ll just send out my letter and hope for the best.

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