Often wonder what it is like to be in a small fundraising shop?
Exciting, exhilarating and yet tedious all at the same time.
You need to be a generalist rather than a specialist. So your skills need to be broad and you need to know a great deal about many things within fund development.
You don’t have prospect researchers on staff and you might not even have a database administrator.
You must be all that and more.
You must see the big picture but yet be willing and able to implement it.
You could be working on a direct mail appeal in the morning and then by afternoon you could be calling on donors.
But most importantly you must be adept at making time work for you and utilizing the Pareto principle, raiser sharp analytic skills will help you hone in on the tasks that absolutely must get done and those that can wait to a slower time, if there is really ever any slower time.
The one thing that you cannot shirk on is donor time each and every day.
Relationship building is the foundation of our programs and if we give that up, our programs will eventually wither and die.
And, don’t under estimate the power of the volunteer to help out with some routine tasks and learn the all important word “no.”
While small shops can be trying at times, they can also be exciting, impactful and rewarding.
One thing for certain is that small shops are a true test of professionalism.
Run one well and you are guaranteed success!
