By Joyce Penland, CFRE
In a recent article in the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ weekly eWire, the trait of “resilience” was found to be one of the top skills needed to be a successful fundraiser. I would certainly echo that sentiment. Resilience means you’re not easily discouraged by the natural setbacks that occur when asking for money. Nor do you take every “no” as a personal affront. My mentors taught me early on that “A no is not a no forever.” Resilience combines a healthy dose of self confidence, a passion for your cause, and the willingness to build relationships with donors who share that passion. I concur that it is a valuable attribute in a successful development professional’s personal toolbox.
In addition to resilience, I’d rank the following characteristics at the top of the list:
Persistence – When I was a new Development Officer at Trinity University in the early 1980’s I was assigned a portfolio of prospects to visit for high end annual gifts. I would dutifully call these prospects seeking visits to invite them to support the University’s Associates Program. I learned that being persistent was perhaps my greatest strength. I called repeatedly to ask for appointments. In fact, one local businessman finally granted me an appointment because I wore him down with my persistent phone calls. “I had a call from you every darn week!” he said when I met him. “If you ever want a different job, come see me.” If you cultivate this trait, your diligence in pursuing your prospects will garner results.
Patience – I learned a valuable lesson in patience early on in my career. In my eagerness to close a gift (and to demonstrate to my bosses that I had the “right stuff” to be a talented “asker”) I called an elderly prospect only a few days after visiting him. Despite my best intentions, he set me straight pretty quickly. “I won’t be rushed into making a gift, young missy!” (While I was flattered that he thought me young at 31, I learned that the larger the request, the longer it takes for a decision to be made.) I didn’t do the important and essential work of asking him when he would like for me to follow up. Being patient doesn’t come easily to many of us fundraisers, especially when the pressure to meet a budget crunch or to fulfill a specific call/visit “matrix” is expected. I tucked St. Augustine’s quote: “Patience is the companion of wisdom” into the top drawer of my desk and reminded myself I needed to practice this virtue if I was to become successful. Your commitment to building your endurance quotient will serve you well in the development field.
Pliability – I like to think of myself as a fairly even-tempered individual with a “glass half full” view of the world. This flexibility has been essential in my fundraising experience due to constancy of change. I recall a trip to St. Louis when several visits with Trinity alumni and parents didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned.
My first visit with our wonderful Parents Fund co-chairs went awry when the restaurant where we were to meet for breakfast was closed. Not just “not yet open” but shuttered and dark. Since this occurred before cell phones and GPS, we rendezvoused in the parking lot and reconnoitered at the closest McDonalds instead.
My second appointment was with a successful young alumna who surprised me by bringing along a friend to our lunch meeting. This interfered with my plan to ask her to move up to the next level of giving. Instead, I shared the materials and followed up later in a phone “ask.”
My third appointment took me to the top floor of St. Louis’ tallest building only to find that my prospect had “flown to Canada about an hour ago” leaving me with a two-hour gap in my carefully-constructed travel plans. Forging on, I used the time (and his office phone) to connect with my office.
You get the picture. It’s the proverbial “when life hands you lemons…” scenario. In development, with ever-increasing travel and visit expectations, one must cultivate a flexible, pliable M.O. One former boss called this cultivating an attitude of “Semper Gumby” calling to mind the nostalgic cartoon character whose flexible green body was super elastic and lithe, equipping him for any challenge that came his way. So, when you face a dreaded nemesis, or just a travel delay, exercising your pliability will help stretch your efforts.
Persistence, patience and pliability. I can’t claim to possess them all in equal doses on any given day, but over a lifetime, these qualities have been essential in meeting the challenges of a career in development.