One of the jewels in Jerry Panas’ Fundraiser’s Creed is: “I spend my life lighting fires.” As I’ve progressed through my career as a development professional, that deeply meaningful phrase has stayed with me. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my own impact on philanthropy. We are in an industry with a 14-month turnover rate. What are we doing to stop such an alarming trend? Are we providing the ongoing education, support, leadership, and inspiration that our gift officers need? Are we teaching them to light fires in donors? Here are some questions and thoughts to consider.

We’ve been talking about having a “culture of philanthropy” in the not-for-profit world for a very long time. We’re still talking about it. But why? Why is it still so prevalent in the philanthropic conversation? Because we haven’t quite figured it out yet.

I’ve Been Inspired By A Lot Of People.

When I transitioned from corporate business development and marketing to not-for-profit development, I was clueless. I was so clueless, I didn’t even know I was clueless—that took about three months. That’s when I really figured out that business development was nothing like philanthropic development—hey, I was young! Hopefully, you’ll find some great information in the following books:

William Sturtevant’s book, The Artful Journey became my ultimate go-to guide and I encourage anyone to read it and keep it by your side. It’s an inspirational look at the practicalities of working with donors and all that entails. It’s an amazing piece of work and really gets to the heart of what we do.

Another must read is Let’s Have Lunch by Marshall Howard. He brings the art of relationship building alive on the pages and genuinely understands that it is much more of an art than a science. It’s another great read and I bet you won’t be able to put it down!

The Raising of Money by James Gregory Lord is a priceless work. Mr. Lord has inspired much of my thinking about philanthropy (as opposed to fundraising) and meeting and working with him was a turning point in my career. He inspired me to think bigger and be very proud of the work we do. My admiration for him and his ability to delve deeply into the world of transformative philanthropy knows no bounds.

I was talking with a client about legacy giving and it led me to contemplating what we, as fundraisers, leave as our own legacy. Many moons ago, Jerry Panas gave me a copy of his Fundraiser’s Creed.

It spoke to me then and it speaks to me now. I wanted to share it–especially for those of us who help so many others realize their dreams through philanthropy. Jerry’s words are, of course, inspirational. Enjoy!

I’m hearing a lot of talk lately about being donor centric. I have to say, I’m shocked! Why do we have to talk about being donor centric? Why is this even a question? Of course, we should have the donor at the center of all we do. It’s crazy to imagine everybody doesn’t have the donor at the center. Well, I’ve been on the side of crazy myself so full disclosure that I know first hand how the day-today operations can push a donor to the sidelines.

We had a big project to remodel the entire facility, it was going to be beautiful. We went to the chair chair of the system board-the big kahuna!

We sat down with him, arrogantly assuming we’re going to get a fabulous gift and he says, “You know, I’m just not really happy with this project.” My brain exploded. I realized in an instant that we had never had a donor conversation with him about the project. We assumed a slam dunk.” So, after gulping down my embarrassment, I asked, “Okay, tell me what’s wrong. What would you like to see different?” He said, there’s no mission here. No mission!? He went on to explain, “We are religiously-based and mission driven organization and we do not have one single symbol of any of that in this entire building.”

Strategies Are Useless; Dreams Are Priceless

Really, strategy without dreams is useless. They have to start with dreams. I know metrics are important but unless you base your plans on big ideas that inspire they are useless. You know why? Because there are hundreds of pages long, they’re in really pretty notebooks with these very expensive covers, and you spend a whole day or even two in a retreat, and you go through it and everybody presents, you’re all gung-ho when you go back to your office, and you put it on your shelf, go on to the next thing, and it’s done. But nothing is done.

The point of a strategic plan is to actually plan—based on aligning your donors’ dreams with how you can help achieve them. What are you going to do, where are you going, and how are you going to get there? And, if you answer those questions to three important things, pick three key areas of focus. Pick three things that you are going to accomplish that year, with your donors’ help and make it happen. This level of focus will definitely show progress. You’ll keep the focus where it needs to be—on your donors and programs that support their interest in giving. So, the next time you decide you need a plan make sure it’s because you have an inspiring dream.

I was recently working with a board of directors and the topic of physician giving came up…as it usually does! The comments were along the lines of: “Physicians Should Give!” and “Why Don’t Physicians Give?”

After 25 years working in healthcare philanthropy, I’ve heard the above, in one form or another, many times.

It’s tempting to lump an entire group of people into a box. But, would we ever hear or say, “How come the people that live on First Street don’t give?” We certainly wouldn’t put our donors into categories of profession and expect that group to give. It would be like saying, “You all have to give, my goodness, you’re engineers” Unlikely! I guess when we frame the concept in a different context, it becomes easier to separate physicians as a group and engage them as individuals.

So, I think the first thing to do is stop talking about “physicians,” because it doesn’t matter whether our potential donor is a physician, a rockstar, a teacher, or an engineer. “Okay here’s a person who has an interest in what we’re doing. How can I explore that and see where it leads?” As gift advisors, we all embrace treating donors with compassion and respect for their values and beliefs. I