“Kimberley, what I really appreciate about you is that if there are any elephants in the room, you always have the courage to call them out and deal with them.”
That is what the Director of Programming said at my going away party for my last job as Director of Development. Any of you who know me or if you have attended one of my fundraising workshops, you would probably agree. I say what I think. I admit that at times I have had to make a conscious effort to filter myself better. This wisdom comes with age. However, I have also learned that when I truly speak from the heart and say what I think a lot of people thank me for it. So in this new series I’m not going to hold back.
Calling out the elephants
In this new series, I’m going to start calling out some of the big issues in our sector. I will also share with you what I think we need to do about them. Hopefully together we can forge a new way forward. Today I’ll start with:
Elephant one – Inflated sense of self-importance
This might seem a bit harsh, but I think it needs to be said: too many times people from outside the fundraising world have commented to me that it seems all we fundraisers do is hang out on social media talking about how great we are. And really what they are seeing are mediocre results and high staff turnover.
When you have a tough job to do it is important to find a supportive sanctuary. We do need to build each other up at conferences or online. I just think that we also need to talk less about how awesome we are and start actually BEING MORE AWESOME!
When we set our ego aside and approach our role from a position of service we are able to deliver results faster because there is less friction with coworkers. Especially for a new hire that was just successful through a grueling hiring process and is now expected to deliver results. Yes, our jobs are essential to mission delivery, but if we are alienating those around us instead of trying to make their jobs easier and listening more, we won’t be successful.
Fundraising is a team sport and everyone on the team needs to be onboard before it will work.
I learned the hard way, that the best way to get your team onside is to be more humble. I think of one job in particular where I felt like I knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it and I made darn sure that everyone knew it. In hindsight I think I could have made faster progress if I started swimming downstream with the rest of the fish first.
Powerless communication
In his New York Times bestseller Give and Take, organizational psychologist Adam Grant, talks about something called “powerless communication”. He states that when we walk around our offices telling people what we think needs to be done and how much we know, we create barriers and defensiveness. When we use powerless communication and approach our work by being authentically curious about the insights of other people opens up a door to a climate of collaboration and consultation. When you create such a climate people will be more receptive to what you have to say.
This is especially true if you move into a position where your predecessor over promised and under delivered. There could be a great deal of skepticism about what you have to offer. Coming across like a bull in a china shop eager to prove your worth will work against you. Humility can serve us well.
Stay tuned for next month’s elephant when I talk about “The Blame Game.”
Kimberley is deeply passionate about building the capacity of the charitable sector. Kimberley is Editor of Hilborn, Charity eNEWS and also works with a variety of organizations to advance a culture of philanthropy among staff and senior volunteers, to be more authentic and ultimately raise more money for their missions. She serves as a member of the Advisory council for the Rogare Think Tank in Plymouth University and is currently spending a lot of time writing her first book. Contact her via@kimberleycanada, email her at k@kimberleymackenzie.ca, or visitwww.theauthenticfundraiser.com
