9 Things I Wish I Had Figured Out Sooner

Here are some things about fundraising I've 
discovered along the way that I really wish I'd known earlier.

1. It's ready, aim, fire — in that order

Some people call working without planning ahead a "bias for action." I used to think that. I thought "ready, fire, aim" was a cool way to work. Then I noticed something. Just about every time you fire before you aim, you miss your target. You have to keep trying, over and over, until by dumb luck you hit it — and by that time you're so tired and demoralized from repeated failure that your work is bad. As often as not, you just run out of ammunition and end up never getting the job done at all.