8 Essential Skills for Success in Fundraising

Part of my mission at Real Deal Fundraising is to support young fundraising professionals so that they stay in this industry and grow their careers.

To that end, I’ve been thinking about which skills I would advise a new fundraising professional to cultivate in order to have the best chance of career success. Here’s my list in no particular order

• INTEGRITY
  • Have integrity and everything that it implies. That means you have high ethical standards and you keep your promises from the large to the small. You arrive to meetings on time and prepared (except in rare emergency cases) and you stay out of all gray ethical areas.
  • This is foundational and I'm not sure you could succeed for very long in fundraising without it. As your relationships with donors evolved, your lack of integrity would be uncovered and they would stop giving through you.
• SINCERITY
  • You have to care. Really care. Deep down in your bones care. If a donor feels slighted, it should keep you up at night. You must believe in the mission of your institution. If there is a misalignment in that area, donors will sense it.
  • Be genuine. It’s rare these days. Being your authentic self makes you attractive. People want to be around someone who is real.
• IMPECCABLE MANNERS
  • Being sincerely yourself should not be interpreted as license to really kick back and be completely candid or crass with donors or co-workers. It’s okay to have fun at the office and even pal around a bit with donors, but you must be able to draw clear boundaries. Never give your colleagues or donors anything less than the utmost respect you are capable of.
  • The basics must be there: “Please” “Thank you” and all customs of civility, holding doors for someone behind you, holding the elevator, etc. I'm planning an entire post about etiquette for fundraisers. Coming soon.
• TENACITY
  • Track everything and document everything. Use data and technology to your advantage to get the gift closed. The famous makeup artist, Bobbi Brown says, “Blend and when you think you’ve blended enough, blend some more.” For fundraisers, “Follow up and when you think you’ve followed up enough, follow up some more.” Make the gift happen.
  • Make your follow up a service to the donor. “I know you’re busy, so if we don’t hear from you, I’ll email/call/remind you in one week. Does that sound reasonable?”
• RESILIENCY
  • Resiliency is like tenacity with a side of self-care. Think Chumbawamba: You get knocked down, but you get up again. Don’t take anything personally, even though you care deeply. Connect back to the mission of your organization, remember your successes and move on to the next prospective donor.
• CURIOSITY
  • Be relentlessly curious. Pursue all continuing education options you can and put what you learn into action. Seek out best practices and evaluate them on their effectiveness (not their NBS factor: new, bright and shiny). Use your creativity grounded in the data to be an innovator.
• WRITING SKILLS
  • Writing for fundraising is hard. Really hard. It is a unique mix of skills that combines impeccable grammar and presentation with crystal clarity and intense emotion with a strong call to action. You must make sure that the message and the mission come across. And you must learn to do this in many formats, from a twitter post to a long form direct mail letter. It’s a tall order. Find good mentors and examples to hone these skills.
• CONVERSATION SKILLS AND LISTENING
  • Fundraisers must talk about themselves, but not too much. They must talk about their institution, but not too much. They must make it all about the donor, without talking too much. They must listen for relevant details and ask engaging questions. They must talk about subjects (like money and estate planning) that are taboo in our culture. I recommend regular “mock conversation” practice with colleagues to hone these skills.

 
Most of these are abstract skills and really more traits that you can cultivate. All of them can be developed and maintained. Of the eight, I believe “Integrity” is the most important because it is foundational. The rest simply don’t matter without it.

Second most important, in my estimation, is curiosity because it is engine behind your growth in this industry. Even if you have all of the other skills, you won’t keep up with the changes and trends without the drive to continually learn.

To that end, I’ll continue to provide information and resources here on Real Deal Fundraising so the professionally curious can get the ideas they need to succeed as fundraising professionals.

Did I overlook an essential fundraising skill? What would you add to this list?  Comments and questions are, as always, welcomed and encouraged!

Cheers,

Jessica Cloud

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• Applying to be a Certified Fundraising Executive
• Oh, The Places You Could Go, Resources for Job Seekers in Philanthropy
• Planning for the Unexpected

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