What sets great fundraisers apart from adequate fundraisers? Initiative.
When I’m hiring a frontline fundraiser, one of the top qualities I look for is what I call “fundraising gumption.” Whether I’m looking for a new major gifts officer, a director of development, or an entry-level fundraising coordinator, if you can prove you’ve got gumption, chances are, you’ve got the job.
Fundraisers who have gumption are fundraisers who take initiative. They’re resourceful, enterprising, and willing to take action. They have an entrepreneurial spirit. To me, nothing is more important when it comes to being a superstar fundraiser.
I’ve met plenty of adequate fundraisers who lack fundraising gumption. But I’ve never met a great fundraiser who didn’t have that trait. Great fundraisers are great because they take the initiative. They call the donor today, not tomorrow. They chat up the guy in the next office while they are waiting for their prospect meeting to start. They try reaching out one more time, even though the donor hasn’t responded to their seven previous touches. It matters, because so often it’s that final call that gets them through the door.
It’s hard to screen for gumption, because it’s so easy to say you have it even if you really don’t. The way I do it is to ask job seekers about how they would approach certain nebulous situations. I give people the opportunity to choose between action and inaction (where the inaction masquerades as stewardship or relationship building) and between aggressiveness and passivity.
For example, I may tell the fundraiser that one of their major donors just got into a ski accident. His wife called to say he won’t be at your gala because he’s going to be in the hospital for a few days, followed by three weeks of bed rest. What do you do? (A) Send a handwritten note. (B) Send a handwritten note and a box of his favorite snacks. (C) Call him to wish him well. (D) Stop by the hospital to see him. (E) Talk to his wife about visiting him once he is at home.
Your answer to that question says a lot about your fundraising gumption. Not everyone will agree on the same answer, and that’s ok. For me, A &B are way too passive. C works, but is just above a passing grade. E shows gumption, and D, well… that’s about as enterprising and willing to take action as you can get. When it comes to fundraising, action wins. Fundraisers who have gumption are fundraisers who take action … and more often than not, it makes all the difference.
