Nine Lessons Learned From the People in Nonprofit Work

A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak to the Big Bend Association of Fundraising Professionals about anything I wanted to talk about. So I chose to talk about what I’ve learned working and volunteering in the nonprofit sector for the past 30 years. I titled my speech “The Lessons I’ve Learned, Sometimes the Hard Way.” Since the turnout was low, I thought I should force you to listen to some of what I shared. You are correct, I have no shame.

Lesson One: Being passionate is not enough. I came to Tallahassee to become the executive director of Refuge House. The board wanted three things in the new executive director: passion for the issue, experience writing grants and experience in working in the battered women’s movement. I had all three, but I had never supervised a single human being and never managed an organization. Within 18 months, I’d hurt some good people who didn’t like being the first people I supervised and I made the sheriff and State Attorney boiling mad.