Follow Your Passion, Even When It’s Hard
When was the last time you tried something new?
…or the last time you took on additional work?
…or the last time you hit your revenue goal?
What was that experience like? Or has it been a while?
Last month, I hit my one-year anniversary in business. This was something new for me. I am not only the Principal Consultant and Fundraising Expert in my business, but I’m also the CEO and somehow at the same time also the administrative assistant. My time is precious and I often wear multiple hats. Can you ever relate to this feeling in your work?
I shared with my email subscribers (by the way - you can subscribe here!) some wisdom I had gained already and asked them for some additional advice. Here is some of what they shared –
“Believe you can.”
“Follow your passion.”
They also shared some of the bad advice they have received over the years. Not surprisingly, it is pretty negative and encourages cheating -
“Lie to the client to cover the mistake.”
“Win at any cost.”
“Don’t ask anyone else what they think.”
Finally, I asked what words came to mind when one thinks about fundraising. Words like “passion” or “blessings” came up, but repeatedly, there were also words like “necessary” “struggle” and “very very intimidating”.
I compiled the words into a word cloud.
Tell me though - what words would you add?
Look – fundraising is hard. You’re asking someone to voluntarily share their disposable income and wealth with your organization. But remember that they care about what you do. They want you to succeed. They want to help people. And your organization is the vehicle to do it.
So as someone smart told me – believe you can - because you’ve got work to do. Need help with how to get there? Contact me and let’s start the conversation on creating your fundraising strategy.
P.S. - I can hear my brother's voice in my head saying it is not yet summer (not until the summer solstice!) but ignoring him for a moment, I'm counting this as summer.
Have operations slowed down at your organization? Are you preparing for the fall and discussing organizational priorities? Let me know if you need help in strategizing how to reach your vision.