Self Care for Major Gift Fundraisers (Part 1 of 3)
How often do you ask yourself .... “How am I doing?”
In one of my first blog posts since re-launching my consulting practice, I emphasized the importance of engaging in self care while working as a major gift fundraiser.
Major gift fundraising can be very stressful. There is constant pressure to meet goals. Sometimes you are confronted with rejection from potential donors. Anxiety, stress, and burnout often accompanies this work.
Self care is a place where you are able to safely deal with difficult emotions such as guilt, shame, and rejection. A good therapist will help you process these emotions and develop healthy coping mechanisms. Therapy helps cultivate the skill and artistry of your own work. Here are four of many reasons why this is so important.
- Gain insight into your relationship history with wealth and high net worth individuals. Understanding your own story better equips you to help others as they explore their stories.
- Courageously name the good, bad and ugly of your story. Learn how to integrate it with the way you see and engage in the world of major gift fundraising.
- Fully embrace who you are. This empowers you to be an agent of transformation in other people’s lives.
- Learn how to build the fundraiser ‘muscles’ of awareness, curiosity, and kindness. You have the sacred privilege of holding high net worth individual stories. You may be one of a few people they have entrusted this to.
My first experience in seeing a therapist was seventeen years ago (it was long overdue, believe me). I was taking graduate classes at The Seattle School where I was required to meet with a therapist as part of the program. Each week on Tuesday afternoon I would take the bus to Magnolia, walk through a quaint neighborhood, and knock on the door of my therapist's detached office in his backyard. What occurred in that space was mundane, miraculous, frustrating, eye opening, stupid, and amazing. Ultimately it shaped my heart toward myself, my family, my work, and my world in profound ways.
While writing this, I am reminded that a therapy session is on my calendar at 10am today. And I feel like I need it more than ever!
If you are concerned about finding a good therapist, I hear you. I’ve ‘fired’ my fair share over the years. Here is a link to The Allender Center where you can find highly qualified therapists. I personally trust and recommend their resources.
Make the call today! God bless you in your self care journey.
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Depending on your day to day needs in major donor fundraising, I have three options you can choose from to energize your efforts:
- The Catalyst Course - a major donor fundraising course for those who are new to the task.
- The High-Performance Course (inquire directly if interested) - a major donor fundraising course for experienced professionals.
- The Flywheel Package - a customized six month consultation for people who are leading teams of major donor fundraisers.
The Catalyst Course is affordable at a cost of $500 and can be done in a schedule that fits best for you, taking anywhere from four weeks to three months to complete. Everything I have learned, successes and failures, is packed into these courses for your benefit and enjoyment. I have taken hundreds of folks through this content, helping them with fundraising strategies to empower causes all over the world.
Now is the time to take advantage of these resources!
I look forward to hearing about your good work.
Blessings,
