Announcing: Guides for Fundraising & Nonprofit Leaders

I hope that you can indulge me a little self promotion this week by announcing two new items:

• A Resume Guide for Fundraisers and Nonprofit Leaders
• A Networking Guide for Fundraisers and Nonprofit Leaders

“A Resume Guide” is prompted by the many requests that I get to review and critique resumes. It’s a 23 page e-book in PDF format that:

• provides outlines of the most popular resume formats specifically tailored for nonprofit and fundraising;
• warns you about some of the most common pitfalls of resume writing;
• gives some of the “inside” on preparing a resume for electronic screening;
• can make your resume stand out from the crowd.

“A Networking Guide,” a 26 page e-book in PDF format, walks you through the career networking process – where most jobs are found! It covers:

• the kinds of networking;
• how to prepare for networking;
• what you want to get out of networking;
• the mechanics of getting networking contacts;
• what to do and look for when you’re networking;
• and more!

Like anything I put out, I want you to be happy with what you get. So if you order “A Resume Guide” or “A Networking Guide” and you don’t find it worth the $15 you paid, I’ll send your money back.

Order yours today, at: http://www.fundraisingtalent.com/wps/articles/

Life’s Tuition

When was the last time you paid tuition? No, this isn’t about going to an AFP conference or getting a Master’s degree in nonprofit management, although I’m an advocate of both. No this is about the “tuition” you pay at the “School of Hard Knocks.”

I pay this tuition every day — some days more than others. Yet maybe it’s a function of age, but I’m getting less upset about making mistakes that “cost me” because I’m coming to the realization that what I “pay” in money spent or lost opportunity is the cost of the lesson, if I chose to learn from it.

How is this a career point? When was the last time you made a mistake (yes, I can see you looking at your watch), and what did it cost you? A promotion? A chance to look good to the boss? More work for a project that should have been easy? You get the idea. Whether you actually put out money, or pay in income never realized, there’s a cost to the career mistakes we make — and you’re going to make them, for sure. The only question is whether you picked up the education for the tuition you paid.

Who Helps You Curl?

The Olympics always bring to us, and I think to Americans in particular, a variety of sports that we never consider but once every four years. One of those is curling.

Next to hockey, curling is probably the most Canadian of sports. Pitch a “stone,” weighing who knows what, down a flat patch of ice and try to get it into a small circle — all the while either knocking someone else out or hoping that someone won’t knock you aside. As the stone trundles along its path, two colleagues try to manipulate the direction and speed of the stone by vigorously scrubbing the ice. Think of shuffleboard with heavy coats on.

There are lots of career lessons to be learned from curling. First is that, like “development,” who would guess the nature of the activity by its name? (What exactly is it that “curls?”) But more important is the idea that the person who sends the stone along its icy path can set up the situation but can’t be ultimately successful without the help of the two dedicated colleagues who guide the stone in its journey. These two — the ones with the brushes — regulate the energy of the situation. They make sure that the stone doesn’t miss the mark and that it gets in a position that won’t be knocked out by others. The three of them — the one who starts the stone down the alley and the two with the brushes — truly are a team.

Who is on your team? Who are the people that brush in front of the stone that you pitch so you hit the mark? These are important people to your career. Without them would you watch your career “curl?”

Volunteer for the King

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man. In the last 20 years he has entered the pantheon of American “demi-gods” who merit holidays — and remarkably a holiday that is marked with service to others, not the latest sale on sheets.

That’s nice, but what does this have to do with your career? Because service to others keeps us connected with people who are important in our lives — people who can make the difference in our careers.

I’m not suggesting that you decide how to spend your volunteer time based on a cold calculus of what kind of service — and where — will best boost your career, but what I am saying is that almost anything you do — and almost anywhere you do it — will boost your career. How’s that? Because just like we see in our own volunteers, doing work for nonprofits helps us build skills, confidence, and connections that we may not have picked up anywhere else. That’s why volunteering — not just one day a year, but on an ongoing basis — is a fine career move. Have fun.