Character in Fundraising - Principle Number Four: Direction
By Roger Richard Breault, MCS, CFRE
June 28, 2004
This is the fourth in a series of articles about the seven character
traits to develop to become an effective, productive, and authentic fundraiser.
It is written with the intent to fill a sizable gap in the formation and education
of those who want to be true fundraising professionals.
Quo vadis? Oł vas-tu? Where are you going? It's a question that rattles in
everyone's minds at least some of the time.
The question of our life and its direction must resonate at least occasionally.
Where are you going with your fundraising? What's your goal? How do you get
there? What's your starting point? This last question may be the easiest to
answer. Your starting point is always the here and now. It demands reflection,
nonetheless.
Direction in life, whether it's the pursuit of professional or personal goals,
always involves a sense of values. What do you value? The Institute for Global
Ethics, a worldwide think tank that studied several cultures across major
religions and different continents, found a common denominator of five pillars/values
that humans agree upon as being most important. They are: honesty, respect,
responsibility, fairness, and compassion. Of course we espouse these values.
What about our actions, our paths, our strategies, our feelings? Do they reflect
this bearing?
Begin with the end in mind. This golden maxim is what drives every great mind
and changes our world daily. When our sense of direction and accomplishment
is founded in the five universal values and it includes a plan that propels
our action, we cannot help but achieve at a higher level. Where we are going,
what we do, how we get there, and the results of our work are focused. What's
more, we will feel better about ourselves.
Much of our sense of direction in the fundraising business is couched in hollow
words like objectives, strategies, and plans. What these "work words" fail
to convey to us as we move ahead in our charitable work and our careers is
that we are marching to the tune of a different drummer. Our drummer is inherently
honest, respectful, responsible, fair, and compassionate isn't she? The significance
of our profession is that it embraces these values as the primary motivating
force behind everything that we do. It delivers a profound sense of appreciation;
it eases the burden of the day-to-day drudgery of some aspects of our work.
Whether you are a professional or a volunteer, as a fundraiser you can take
pride that you are contributing to the emancipation of humanity through directed
efforts to express compassion, to restore dignity and respect, and to facilitate
fairness. This is the true starting place of our sense of direction.
On the practical side, it's usually useful to set goals daily. Keep them front
and centre to ensure that you are pursuing your sense of direction. However
mundane at times, your work will appear easier and more meaningful if it functions
in aim of where you are going. Why? Because when you look at it in this way,
you are concentrating on how to make things happen rather than "if" things
happen. A sense of direction enables you to become resolute in what you do
and motivates you to accomplish more, therefore generating more.
The three other character traits we have reviewed to date in this series -
intelligence, fervency and self-confidence - burgeon when they are accompanied
by a keen sense of direction. Without it, they are empty promises.
Let's go back to the beginning. Where are you going? What's the purpose of
your life? What practical steps are you taking to get closer to these goals?
On what values are these goals based?
Some wise person said: "There is no finish line". It's true. Once you have
achieved a plateau of accomplishment there will always be a loftier goal towards
which you can strive. You can be comforted by the fact that when your sense
of direction is founded on noble values and you do your very best to realize
aspirations through your fundraising, your fulfillment will grow and you will
feel ennobled by what you are doing. Having a keen and clear sense of direction
is essential to being a successful fundraiser.
A Short List of Selected Readings on the Subject of Direction in Fundraising:
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
Socrates' Way by Ronald Gross
How Good People Make Tough Choices, Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical Living by Rushworth M. Kidder
Giving it 110% by Mark McCormack
Roger Richard Breault has prepared the articles for the benefit and
the advancement of the profession. Roger has a Masters' Degree in Communication
Studies, and a CFRE accreditation. He is a dedicated reader and Manager of
Fund Raising Consultants of Alberta and the Speakers' Bureau of Alberta.
