The Real Work
Dear friends, colleagues, and comrades,
Like many of you, I never planned to work in fundraising. In fact, when I took my first fundraising job, I was pretty sure I was going to love the organization and...tolerate the actual work. I took it because it was their only opening and my only job lead.
If I'm honest, I worried I'd be moving away from the "real" work. I wanted to organize people, build movements, and fight for social change - not ask people for money. At the time, those felt like completely different jobs.
Gradually, I stopped seeing fundraising as something separate from organizing. It became another way to build power, develop leaders, and strengthen the organization itself. Once I saw that, I couldn't imagine fundraising as one person's responsibility anymore.
When I became Development Director at JFREJ, I wanted fundraising to become part of how we advanced our organizing, not just how we paid for it. I trained board members, staff, and member leaders to tell our story, build relationships, and invite people to take action by making a donation. Teaching someone to ask for a gift wasn't just about raising money. It was leadership development. It was organizing. It was another way of building power to win real change.
More than a decade later, people still come up to me and tell me those trainings changed how they think about fundraising and how they practice it. Along the way, JFREJ grew from a $300,000 organization to a $1.6 million one and shifted from relying primarily on grants to building a broad base of individual support.
My experience at JFREJ shaped everything I've done since. Whether I'm helping an organization think about fundraising, board development, or strategy, I keep coming back to the same idea: the strongest organizations build cultures where more people take ownership of the work.
I've wanted to open up this conversation beyond my consulting clients for a long time. That's why I'm excited to offer a free workshop on September 9 at 1 PM ET: Building a Joyful Culture of Fundraising. We'll explore practical ways to build shared ownership of fundraising, engage board and staff as partners, and create a culture where fundraising feels more connected to your mission - and a lot less lonely.
I'd love to have you there - if you can’t make it but would like the recording, please RSVP anyway.
Whether or not you can join us, I'd love to hear how you and your organization thinks about fundraising. What parts feel energizing? What parts feel hard? Just hit reply or book me for a free consultation here - I always enjoy these conversations.
In solidarity,
Nikki
