JH Collective, Inc.

My early #authenticask work centered on this question of work identity? I addressed the tension I experienced (and still do) around calling myself a fundraiser, or any variation withstanding Fundraising ProfessionalMajor Gift Officer Development Director... I once had a supervisor who would assert at least once a meeting, Tell me what THAT has to do with fundraising? I will never forget the backlash I endured while supporting a renowned scientist’s book-signing (promoting his $100 million dollar initiative, inviting donors + prospects, and collecting names) That’s NOT fundraising... piped through the backchannels. The tension persists. I see job cards for fundraisers that look like ED positions, chief marketing and communication officers, and event planners all in ONE. I see the opposite, ED and marcom postings calling for a mere basic understanding of fundraising I see and feel resistance all around: to the title, the identity, the notion that a fundraiser’s job is to simply / solely ask for money when I know the truth is...it’s far more complex. I ask myself, if a new name would make a difference. Like, say, when Chief Innovation Officer, arrived on the scene. I ask myself if any of it matters at all. What do you think? I #fundraise, therefore I...AM?

Ok, for the most part, company culture has been embraced as a thing. We know it exists. We know it resides in people. We know it’s comprised of beliefs and behaviors. We know it has attributes (e.g. strong, innovativeor toxic, even)...... but above all else, we know that it impacts performance. For nonprofits with long histories, layers of accountability, influential founders and/or high profile board members, culture is not so easy to detect, diagnose, or shapeand because of thisit can be easily relegated to the bottom of a list of priorities. This week, I have been thinking a whole lot about culture with regards to the fundraising profession. I have been thinking about how I use the phrase culture of philanthropy. And I have been thinking about how it has become almost as popularized (and dare I say, as diluted) as #Drucker’s phrase below. So I dig deeper. What does a #cultureofphilanthropy even mean? And more importantly, how much do we really invest in it? As more and more nonprofits invest in high priced strategic planning retreats, I wonder: would investing in culture-building initiatives translate into greater fundraising success? Does culture, in fact, hold our true potential to create real social change? #authenticask See more

In the spirit of authenticity, I want to share my deepest gratitude to Sophie Penney and Jay Frost for encouraging the webinar on #theauthenticask. Your confidence that it could work online ignited our own. A special thanks to @rmastone for adding much needed front line wisdom to the session. #isupportthismessage... This was a first for us!!! We braved the digital divide together and we hope, above all else, the conversation inspires much needed dialogue around the #newnarrative our field so deeply deserves. Thank you to all who attended in mind and spirit! More to come - I hope! #inreallife and #digital

Getting comfortable with fundraising is not something that happens overnight - in fact I wonder if the idea that it will ever be comfortable is part of the mythology that locks fundraisers and board members in a cycle of insecurity. I told a board recently that I can teach them to understand fundraising (what it is), I can provide them with the requisite skills (the how to, the story and various tactics), but that comfort is an internal process and ultimately requires ...practice. I left that day reflecting on my own words and invoking @anipemachodron who talks about discomfort as the basis of practice. In fact, she encourages us to get comfortable with it, to relate to it, to sit with it - to let discomfort soften us. Perhaps I had it all wrong? Perhaps the quest for comfort itself is what hinders us? Perhaps real, impactful fundraising begins (like any relationship-based work) at the end of our comfort zone? Look, a fundraiser’s job is extraordinarily intimate (we get intimate with a social need and we get intimate with a donor’s passions, their desire for legacy, and at times, their quest for healing. And lest we forget, we get intimate with their financial capabilities. It’s a deeply interpersonal and personal experience - one that can be deeply rewarding. But comfortable...? #authenticask #holistic #fundraising #socialchangs