Is There Only One Way to be a Lion… er… Fundraiser?
My two-year-old daughter has been enjoying a book lately that poses the question, “Is there only one way to be a lion?” The book offers the narrative that lions must be fierce! They can’t be gentle! They can’t like poetry! And they certainly can’t be friends with a duck!
What to do then with a lion who likes to make up poems, hangs out with ducks, and who is gentle rather than fierce? Of course, the book illustrates that there is more than one way to be a lion. And this got me thinking about fundraising.
Is there only one way to be a successful fundraiser? Do you have to be smooth-talking, ever confident, outgoing, with decades of major gifts that you’ve “won” from influential philanthropists?
I don’t think so. Not today anyway. But when I was a new Development Director, that’s what I thought. I fretted endlessly that I didn’t fit the bill and wouldn’t measure up. I had little in the way of direct 1:1 fundraising experience, I didn’t feel effortlessly confident, and I had a terrible time remembering the important details about donors’ lives that I felt I should. In short, I wasn’t “fierce” like a lion “should” be.
But I built success and built confidence little by little. I began to see that donors welcomed me just as I was – even in my inexperience and awkwardness – because we both genuinely cared about the mission of my nonprofit. In fact, I see now that donors trusted me more and were drawn to me more *because* I wasn’t slick and effortlessly confident. I started to see that there was no “one right” way to be a lion….er… fundraiser.
As a consultant, I’ve encouraged clients who are newer to fundraising to openly share their learning journey with donors along with their genuine desire to be of service. For those who have been brave enough to take this advice to heart, the results have been both touching and awe-inspiring. When we relate with authenticity and even show our vulnerability, donors feel closer to us and step up to help us learn. They support us in learning what they love, what they need to feel engaged, and where to go next with their support.
So today I invite myself … and you! ... to be brave and show up just as we are, knowing that we are enough. “We don’t have to roar to be heard.”
