It’s December, which means that nonprofit end-of-year fundraising is in full swing. It’s an exciting time of year as checks roll in at a much faster clip – the fruits of your labor, and payoff for a year’s worth of tremendously hard work by your organization and your fundraising team.
Back before I’d ever raised any money, I thought fundraising meant going to black tie, rubber chicken dinners and having conversations as dull as the food. It was the necessary evil of putting fuel in the tank for doing your real work.
It’s good to be so wrong about something. It provides perspective, acts as a stiff shot of humility.
This year more than ever, as the checks have been coming in from people I’ve known for years now, I can personally feel their support in a new way. Knowing who they are and how much they give of themselves, knowing how seriously they take their donation and how much trust they are placing in us to make a difference in the world with their money – it fills me with a profound sense of duty and of respect. It makes me want to work harder, to work smarter, to do more to make them proud. It makes me realize that my job (our job), now, is to live up to their gift.
To all of you out there (you know who you are), let me say, again: thank you.
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