I didn’t start in fundraising.
I built my career in sales, of everything from lotteries to roof membranes to adult education to disability insurance to a zoo. It was hardcore. Results were all that mattered.
It taught me to respect research. Know what you’re doing, don’t guess. I aim to have an “opinion-free” practice: 500+ professional how-to and reference books sag the shelves in my office. Every day I still read an hour or more in my field. Countless mentors have tramped through my brain, leaving behind good advice and severe corrections.
I began working with nonprofits full-time around 2003. I was surprised that basic skills I took for granted as a sales copywriter — the deft use of emotional triggers to prompt action, for instance; or reverence for the customer — were often missing in the donor communications I saw.
And I saw a lot: hundreds, then thousands, of nonprofit, donor-intended communications pieces … and so many of them unwittingly built to fail.
My journey began, with Simone's encouragement.