Grab Your Partner!
It's a good partnership except for one area: approvals. Because they are small and lean and their executive director likes the opportunity to review and approve all e-mail/direct-mail pieces, we find ourselves pushing our vendors and missing print deadlines.
We've worked to build in tons of extra time into the production process and do our best to keep things on schedule, but it seems we are always playing catch-up or asking a printer or the lettershop to do "one more favor." Without question, they are the clients and we'll work to make sure we keep projects and campaigns moving and on schedule. We always approach partnerships with that attitude. Except, we now have a few lettershops and printers who indicate they don't want to work on this particular client anymore because of some of these issues.
So, I'm a fundraiser having a mid-life crisis. And that's perfectly fine with me.
I am taking time to look around, lift my head and find REAL people who really want to change the world. And people smart enough to do it. Join me in this fun journey. I have no idea where we will end up - and that is the beauty of it. I'm nonprofit passionate, a hopeful world changer, and always ready to share what I know, learn what I don't, admit when I can't, and ask the hard questions.
While you're looking around for other areas of inspiration, check out The Moth Project at themoth.org (the podcasts are AMAZING), TED talks (doesn't matter which ones - find topics that interest you) and Volunteer Voices (again - love the podcast) written by volunteers from the Peace Corps. Don't see the immediate connection to being a better fundraiser? Just listen, you'll hear the message ...
