Shrines and Museums
I live in the Philadelphia region, and between here, New York, and Washington there are probably more museums and shrines than anywhere in the county and maybe the world. There’s a museum for just about anything and everything, that is, except fundraising.
Sorry, no Gala Hall of Fame on New York’s 5th Avenue. No Shrine to the Unknown Grant Writer on Washington’s Mall. Philadelphia’s Main Line doesn’t have the world’s biggest lead trust captured and on display in an elegant former estate. The Girl Scout headquarters doesn’t even have the top grossing cookie seller sculpted out of Thin Mints in their foyer!
Yes, fundraisers can be heroes, but the permanent recognition goes to the donors, not those who ask. In short, fundraisers are an unsung lot.
It’s easy to see how this impacts your career. It takes a special kind of person to do the work and see others get the recognition — time and time again. It can be frustrating — standing in the background of events big and small — and liberating — seeing your organization’s mission fulfilled — all at the same time. You need to know whether that’s for you.
So next time you think about your role in the organization, think about the other unsung heroes in the profession, and ask yourself, who would play me on TV?
Get outta here!
Have you made your vacation plans yet? I hope so. Are you going someplace exciting, like Arlington, Virginia to visit the AFP National Office? (Maybe you can cross the Potomac and get a tour of CASE while you’re in town, too!) Now THAT would be exciting!
Okay, not really, and you know why. Vacations are to get away from what we do on a daily basis. Yet as someone in development, my guess is that you don’t schedule them enough, and when you do squeeze them in you’re tempted to “be available” in case any “emergency” occurs (like a crisis gift annuity that needs your input or visiting a prospect while you’re “in the area”).
How is this a career topic? Hey, if you don’t already know, you really do need a vacation. But just in case you need it spelled out: you, as a fundraiser or nonprofit leader, are most effective when you’re fresh and excited about what you do, not cynical and burned out from doing your job too long and with too much intensity.
So make your plans for this next vacation and the one after that, too. Get away and enjoy your family, maybe a new place or somewhere familiar. And no, they don’t give tours of AFP.
Bid Me Up, Scotty
I can’t imagine that you don’t know eBay. Unlike that “great garage sale in the sky” called Craigslist — where everything is at a fixed price — most items offered on eBay go for the price for which someone is willing to pay and someone else is willing to sell: no more and no less. It is exactly what something is “worth” at that exact moment of the sale.
If you were to put your professional services to bid on eBay, what would they fetch? What is the demand for what you do, and why should your job sell for more or less than someone else’s? Knowing the range of your professional value is the same as knowing where to start the bidding on that vintage Barbie® or GI Joe® you’re offering on eBay. You did some background research. For the 12 inch “action figure” you saw what others were going for that are in the same condition. For your job, you checked salary surveys and asked your professional colleagues.
Knowing this is important, because sometime sooner or later you will be on eBay. Yup. Sometime in the interview process someone, probably your future employer, will announce the starting bid. You need to ask yourself, “Is what I do worth that much? Am I worth more, or should I go for the ‘buy it now’ price?”
Step One, Step Two…
How well do you follow instructions? I was on a grant proposal review committee for a local foundation, reviewing letters of intent for the distribution of about $500,000 in federal stimulus monies. It was an eye opening experience.
It’s not just a cliché to say that we wish we could have funded them all. But that said, one of the biggest distinctions between those we passed to the next round and others we did not was their ability to follow instructions. Those that “passed” gave us what we needed exactly per the instructions provided — the same instructions that were on papers they received and in the mandatory seminar they attended.
Well, at least one career move here is that if you want to have a career in proposal writing, learn to follow instructions! But beyond the obvious, the real career point is to ask yourself, how well do I follow instructions? Following instructions does not squelch creativity, nor hamper your ability to show what’s unique in you. But it does tell someone that you meet the minimum requirements so that you can be passed along to the next level.
So when you’re asked to send samples of your work, send the samples. When you’re told not to call, don’t call. And when you’re asked to put in specific information into your next proposal -— put it in. You might just get the money and the job!
Career Action Steps is on Kindle!
Not long ago I received a Kindle e-Reader as a birthday gift. Honestly, I lobbied for it — mostly for the newspapers. Now I have the Philadelphia Inquirer whenever I want it (as long as it keeps publishing — but that’s another story). But you know, the Kindle offers so much more — more than just books, too.
Blogs are available on Kindle. In fact, Career Action Steps is now available on Kindle!
Yup, you can get your weekly dose of Career Action Steps delivered right to your e-Reader.
So, your career move this week? Consider what an e-Reader can do for you. It’s increased my reading efficiency (by allowing me to set the font size and page width) and what I can read (a physical book store can only hold the newest or most popular titles.) It’s also allowed me to serve more people by widening the audience of Career Action Steps. Cool!
(Sign up for the Kindle version of Career Action Steps by going to the Kindle Store.)
