One of the two main reasons I went to work for my second nonprofit was to report directly to the head of development. This way, I could learn how to report to and interact directly with the leader. As I’m naturally an introvert, at the time, I didn’t have the skills I knew I needed to acquire this skill. So, this gave me the opportunity to learn.

I read books, listened to podcasts, watched webinars, and observed others. I was eager to learn anything I could about leadership and how to report to a C-suite executive.  Between this approach and interacting directly with the leader, I grew tremendously in my skill set. Now I’m super comfortable interacting with, understanding, and supporting CEOs, CDOs, EVPs, VPs, and others. Over the years, I have learned to ask three leading questions to leaders.

It’s a long-standing statement that retained donors are easier and less costly to retain than it is to acquire new donors. And there are a lot of complex tools in the market and lots of talk about AI, but if you’re not doing the basics, then the more complex processes will feel impossible. Here to give you 7 data flows that are simple and basic for you to implement today.

I co-wrote this edition with my husband Doug.  He’s a frontline fundraiser, always has been, and I’m in philanthropy operations, always have been. Can you imagine the many conversations we have at the dinner table? Why can’t you get your contact reports into the database?  Why can’t you make it easier for us to get our contact reports in?  On and on.

Even though we often “duke” it out in conversations, it has really balanced each of us. I’ve gained a better understanding of his perspective, and he’s gained a better understanding of mine.  Together, we navigate to common ground to ultimately figure out what the best route or solution is. Sometimes we figure out it's best to go my way, other times his way, and many times somewhere in the middle.

Disagreements between development operations and frontline fundraisers are inevitable. Let’s talk through 6 strategies to navigate these disagreements.

I believe confidence comes with practice and it’s the type of practice you get that allows you to get confident faster. For example, early on in my career I took the long route. I dove into online documentation, courses, and tutorials all on my own for days before I attempted to do something. I read, studied, and then read and studied more before attempting to do database set-up, configuration, imports, or list pulls. For some reason I thought I had to know every little detail before diving in.

Become very curious as this is how you'll learn, grow, and evolve. If you need encouragement, take a look back at how far we've come or talk with those who have been in the profession for a long time. You'll hear all about paper files and those Rolodexes that kept contact information. And don't get me started on the evolution of online donations. Keep on learning as we need you to keep the profession thriving. Learn by taking action.