The village mentality

Recently, a colleague of mine shared the best professional advice he's received: One person doesn't raise a gift. An institution raises a gift.

As fundraisers, we should have no ego about this fact. We're fortunate when we can help someone figure out how they want to support an organization that means so much to them. We listen, we help. It is never me raising the gift; it's everyone at my institution working behind the scenes to coordinate meetings and phone calls and proposals and gift terms, all of which will help the donor to understand the nonprofit better and make an informed gift decision.

Fundraising takes a village. It's not a solo pursuit. Fundamentally, it's not about the donor and me. It's about the donor and the nonprofit.