Tooting Your Own Horn

This may sound a little cheap but I’ve found it invaluable. Succeeding as a fundraising professional is often more about managing perception that your actual performance and success. I am writing this for those of us that do not toot our own horn (not for the slackers that really don’t do anything).

I have found that one of the very best ways to keep the development office and my boss happy is to make sure that I am regularly talking about what I’m doing. Not every donor we talk to is going to give us $10,000 or even give a gift at all so it is important that people know we are working even if we are not bringing in money.

Give your boss a short update about some of the prospecting ideas you have been working on, write the name of the person you’re going to meet with on the schedule board before you leave. When times slow remind people, in an appropriate way, of past successes. People tend to forget the good work that we do when money is not coming in and it is helpful to be able to remind them of the value of the development office.