Second things next

Engage the Spirit

An organisation needs to offer each employee the opportunity to ‘bring their passion to work’. To in some way enable the employee to say of their work ‘This is who I am and this is what I do to make a difference in the world’. This is possibly the most difficult aspect of developing an effective organisation. Where each employee feels that their particular skill is recognised as part of the whole, and wants to contribute to the whole. Is this something that you can put in a job description?

In another country I knew a fundraiser who every time I met him he would proudly tell me how much money he had raised. He expressed great pride in what 'he had achieved'. Now we all know, and most Fundraising HR Consultants live by the motto that you can learn all about a fundraiser by asking the question "How much money have you raised?" Is it really that simple, or complicated, and have we as fundraisers fallen into that trap as well?

A few years ago I heard the American Fundraising Guru, Kent Dove, talking about who do you hire for your fundraising staff. Something that many fundraisers ned to know and he was really fantastic. He didn't say that you need to employ a fundrtaiser who has raised a lot of money, nor did he say that you need to employ fundraisers who have had lots of experience in lots of different organisations. He indicated that there are three things you look for in employing new staff.

You look for Integrity, inteligence and enthusiasm.

I was once quoted as saying 'there is no rocket science in fundraising'; and I am sure that there are rocket scientists somewhere in the world who are saying that there rocket science is not as complicated as fundraising, but Kent dove gives us a new look at fundraising qualities. It is vitally impoortant to learn as much as we can about the poracticalities of our profession, but we would do better to do all we can to engage the spirit of the fundraiser to the organisation.

Success in Fundraising is not just about getting people to give you money, but I see it as more about capturing their soul, so that they feel as passionate about our organisation as we do. Thats when success kicks in.