Advice for New Fundraisers From Folks Who Have Been There — Recently
Learning to deal with nerves and rejection are two of the biggest challenges new fundraisers face, according to colleagues with several years’ experience.
When new fundraisers come into the field, they often have the similar challenges as they get acclimated, start interacting with donors and raising money, say those who’ve been there. Yet, supervisors sometimes forget what it was like, so don’t prep new fundraisers. The Chronicle asked new fundraisers to offer tips for new fundraisers — and their supervisors — about some of the most common sticking points for newbies to the field. Below are the highlights:
Nerves Happen
Many fundraisers said it’s important to normalize that in those first fundraising interactions, nerves will happen as you gear up to talk to donors.
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When new fundraisers come into the field, they often have similar challenges as they get acclimated, start interacting with donors and raising money, say those who’ve been there. Yet, supervisors sometimes forget what those early days are like, and don’t prep new fundraisers on what to expect. The Chronicle asked young fundraisers to offer tips for new fundraisers — and their supervisors — on some of the most common sticking points for newbies. Here’s what they said:
Nerves Are Inevitable
Many fundraisers say it’s important to normalize that in those first fundraising interactions, nerves will happen as you gear up to talk to donors.
“It can be daunting when you’re first starting out,” says Lauren Clyman, director of development for the Palm Beach Preservation Foundation. “Sometimes you’re meeting with a super influential and important person in the community.”
When Clyman started, that kind of pressure caused a lot of anxiety. But over time, she’s told herself to just remember, “They’re human. They’re a person. For me, that has helped to navigate those rooms where it feels like it could be a bit intimidating”
For Emma Rota Autry, a 2023 graduate of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy now working at the Eskenazi Health Foundation, nerves hit when there was a big age gap between her and the donor. “It’s not as easy to go up to someone much older and try to create that relationship when you look like you’re younger,” says Rota Autry, who very much looks like a recent college graduate.
In the short time she’s been raising money, she’s learned to not let the perception others might have that she’s really young and may not be relatable affect her side of the conversation. Instead, she tries to get to know people and bring her “own perspective to the relationship.”
Destiney Patton, donor relationships manager at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, faced similar challenges when she started fundraising at age 23. Supervisors initially hesitated to assign older donors to her portfolio, but she found focusing on similarities helps in all conversations with donors.
“You can build relationships with anybody,” Patton says. “You don’t have to have all of the same likes and experiences. Just uniting behind the fact that you’re both supportive of this mission can go a long way.”
Mistakes Happen
New fundraisers want to do a great job, and making a mistake doesn’t mean you aren’t, says Annyce Brackins, institutional giving manager at the nonprofit Youth Represent.
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Making a mistake doesn’t mean you’re a bad fundraiser, says Annyce Brackins, institutional giving manager at Youth Represent.
When she first started, she was a bit of a perfectionist and making a mistake cratered her. “I didn’t mentally prepare myself for if I were to make a mistake, how should I manage my emotions?” Brackins says. “So the first mistake I made, of course I cried.”
When you make a mistake, it’s important to take “take accountability,” she says. And her message to supervisors out there: Be understanding. “Talk them through what happened and how they can go forward,” she says. New fundraisers, she says, need to understand where they went wrong, as well as advice on how to fix things and encouragement to “build us up.”
Rejection Happens A LOT
Fundraisers get told No a lot. It can be hard to hear if you’re not used to it, says Warren Northern, grants and funding development manager at the Universal Community Health Center. “Early on, one of my weaknesses would be that I could take feedback personally,” he says.
Eventually, he realized he couldn’t do that because there’s just a lot of rejection in fundraising. “You could have the best written grant application,” Northern says. “And you still may not get that funding because what the funder is looking for is just different than what you guys are doing.”
In the face of that rejection, there may be temptation to appeal to what grant makers or wealthy individual donors want, even if that’s not what your organization does. Northern advises new fundraisers not to fall into that trap.
“You have to stay mission focused, and you can’t change your application to just get the funding when it’s not actually what they’re looking for,” he says. Instead, accept that you won’t win them all, and look for donors that are aligned with what the organization is trying to do.
Find Support
Most fundraisers talk about not doing this work alone. New fundraisers need people they can trust who can be supportive. This can be mentors or trusted peers.
“This isn’t the easiest work to do,” Brackins says. “If there are days where you feel like you’re not valuable or you feel like an imposter, challenge those thoughts. Challenge those thoughts by speaking with a trusted person, like a mentor, and navigating through those emotions. Understand that you’re there on the team for a reason and value yourself.”
Work-Life Balance Matters
Brittany Wade, annual giving manager at the Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society, has worked under two different supervisors at her job. The first answered donors whenever they called. Her current supervisor puts more boundaries in place.
“It’s really improved my quality of life around here to not be getting calls from donors on Sunday morning because they want to tour,” Wade says. “I simply won’t answer the phone. I’ll reach out to them on Monday morning.”
Madeleine Durante, associate director of donor acquisitions for the ACLU, finds teaming up useful when it comes to work-life balance. “Getting an accountability buddy in your work space helps,” she says. “Someone to message you to say, ‘Hello. I notice it’s 5:30 and you’re still online. Please get offline.’”
Achieving the right work-life balance will help your fundraising because you won’t come in depleted.
“If you are not coming to work from a well-resourced standpoint, you are at a risk of damaging your relationships,” Durante says. “Also, you’re at a risk of leaving a field that really needs talent, that really needs you.”