10 life lessons from the fundraising floor

 

Today we have a guest blog, from the wonderful fundraiser Susie Lomax. Susie has been fundraising for Pell & Bales for just over a year now and recently took time to reflect on her time as a fundraiser. It turns out she has learnt a lot…

 

10 life lessons from the fundraising floor

What began as a part time job to pay the bills became a wonderful adventure. One of the greatest things I have learnt is that if we are willing to commit ourselves to excellence then the most extraordinary things happen. For example have you ever considered the wide range of skills that we can learn as fundraisers?

So much of what I have learnt in the past year, I can take with me and apply to every aspect of my life, even my relationships! For many becoming a telephone fundraiser might be to ‘pay the bills’, a filler while at University, or maybe while waiting for that ‘big break’ as an actor. However, I would challenge everyone to stop and consider how valuable this experience is. Here are a few things I have learnt;

1. Stepping through fear: It’s really easy to give up. Sticking with the difficult calls awakens a kind of tenacity that gets results.

2. Listening: I used to love talking! Now I love to listen. We get to hear real life stories every day. If we listen just a little more we can respond with real empathy and make our calls a great experience for everyone.

3. The Art of Diplomacy: learning to be polite while keeping our objective in the forefront of our minds no matter what. It’s not about us.

4. Never assume: I am still learning this one! People surprise us every day.

5. Leaving my ego outside the door: Lets face it we all bring our own agenda’s with us. The trick is to recognise our own personal interest and then we can allow room for other people’s concerns.

6. Always a call away from success: Just one more call can make the difference to our stats and our confidence.

7. Asking for the money:  Most people don’t enjoy doing this but there is a skill to it that can really make the difference to the amount of money we can raise for the our charity clients and the amazing work that they do.

8.Taking action now: We can learn to ’do’ and not put off until tomorrow. Just do it!

9. Having great conversations: We get to do this every day with every strata in society. Great communicators go places, have great friends. People remember them.

10. Never give up: We owe it to ourselves to get passionate about life. It can be tough but in my experience it’s pretty fantastic. It’s simply up to us.