What does it take to be a fundraiser?

I know, I know. There have been hundreds of articles written on this (including this one from us) and hours of conference sessions devoted to it.

But this week's got me thinking differently.

You, my fellow fundraiser - you're crazy special.

I was terrified for the first 3 years of my career (4 if I'm being totally honest).

I fell into my very first fundraising job - believing if I could sell coffee to grumpy morning people, I could surely raise money. (Helpful career hint: it's not the same AT ALL!)

After two years sorting through paper files and "raising" a tiny bit of money as it fell into my lap, I talked my way into a bigger, better job in a bigger, better town.

I felt like a fraud.

Not only at my job, but with donors.

I had no confidence - no roadmap - no clue where to go or what I was supposed to talk about.

I walked into dozens of immaculate homes, corner offices and Starbucks completely terrified - believing I would say something...

It's summer and the livin' is easy...except we still have to work!

If, like us, you want to squeeze every bit of joy and awesomeness out of both work and play, we commend to you the following hacks.

1. Thunderbolt from the blue (okay, actually, via the Amy Porterfield podcast, from Brooke Castillo): 

Don't sit down to "work." Sit down to produce. Give yourself (way) less time than usual and settle for imperfect, but Get. It. Done.

This is so huge! How many days do you "work" so hard, only to realize you haven't actually accomplished anything on your impressive to-do list? 

Pro-tip: Take your top priority and give yourself two hours to accomplish an actual, tangible result (you got the appointment! you drafted the proposal! you planned the trip!).

We can hardly say how amazing this is. You feel free and in charge of your work at the same time. You get more done in less time and get to go have some fun already. Give it a shot!!

2. Very much connected to #1, Don't do what...

If you've been watching the NBA Finals, you've seen Uber's new Moving Forward campaign or Mountain Dew's Kickstart...um, drink? soda? I never know what to call Mountain Dew.

Just like Uber and the Dew, nonprofits need to boost awareness. How do you spread the word without an NBA Finals-sized ad budget? Read Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Wharton marketing professor, Jonah Berger. Berger reveals six key principles (STEPPS) to help you craft contagious content:

• Social Currency - We share things that make us look good.
  • How do you make the donor the hero of your story?
• Triggers - Top of mind, tip of tongue.
  • What cues make people think of your org, the problem you're solving or the change you make?
• Emotion - When we care, we share.
  • Donors give from the heart. Focus on feelings.

• Public - Built to show, built to grow.
  • Show, don't tell. Use more video, photos & testimonials to truly demonstrate change.
• Practical Value - News you can use.
  • How can you highlight your...

It's Friday! We're looking back on a week full of inspiration. Hope you are, too!

Check out The Crossroads of Should and Must. This hardcover book is meant to be held, dog-eared, read and reread. Written by artist and designer, Elle Luna, each and every page is art, color and inspiration.

If you're facing a big decision, wishing for change, but unsure if it's right or just need a reminder that you're on the right path, read this book!

We're inspired by the podcast This Is Love. Created by the Criminal podcast team, these are deeply personal, quirky, funny, tragic and awe-inspiring stories of all types of love. In a time when we don't hear much about love and connection, these stories give me the warm and fuzzies (and a few tears).

One of my favorites is Episode 2, Something Wild and Large, about a 17-year old swimmer who encounters a baby grey whale in the Pacific Ocean.

We're also listening to our own podcast, Episode 7: Jen Sincero's 10 Secrets to Badassery. The big idea:

YOU...

We're watching Malala Yousafzai on David Letterman's new Netflix show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. Malala, now in her first year at Oxford, reminds us that education is independence, identity, equality and a basic human right.

When Dave asked about forgiveness and meaning, Malala said, "I saw death so close and I realized that maybe this life is for a purpose. I decided that I would give this life to girls' education and speak out for them. We have to die one day. Why not do good and do as much as we can to help others?"

The Malala Fund's mission is to help the 130 million girls in the world who are out of school to learn and lead without fear.

The Fund's powerful message gives us goosebumps:

If one girl with an education can change the world, what can 130 million do?

We also love this Stephen Colbert video for another peek at the lighter side of Malala.

We are in awe of the late Sylvia Bloom, who, in her will, left more than $8 million to support scholarships for...

Wow! We are watching Gates, Rockefeller, and Chan Zuckerberg take aim at poverty in the U.S. We geek out on seeing theories of change in action.

The Gates Scholarships embrace education as the way out of poverty and reward the best and brightest. Rockefeller and Chan Zuckerberg's Communities Thrive Challenge lifts up communities' own innovative, scalable solutions. 

If you do community work to alleviate/eliminate inequality, check out the Challenge! Grants are $1 million plus technical assistance and big publicity for results. Amazing!

We are reading The Culture Code, on how groups get and stay successful. Belonging is, unsurprisingly, at the center. Turns out the amygdala, that old reptilian part of our brains, not only spurs fight-or-flight, it also detects "belonging cues" and uses "immense unconscious neural horsepower to build and sustain your social bond." Fun fact: 

• People at a train station during a rain storm were approached by a stranger....

Congratulations to our graduates of Fund Development Institute!

We are ridiculously proud of these 21 amazing humans. They put up with us for FIVE full days of intensive learning. Because they were so truly awesome, Nancy and I said "yay" about 6000 times, clapped, jumped up and down, threw candy at them and threatened to do cartwheels.

We covered an insane amount of fundraising essentials, like:

• Making a sparkling, irresistible case
• Finding new donors
• How to get the visit - the email formula & cold-calling
• How to turn the conversation to $
• The keys to killer cultivation
• The Pre-Ask, the Ask & follow up
• How to handle "no"
• Stellar thanks
• Board members as fundraisers
• Writing for donors
• Career development

This week, our hard-working fundraisers inspired us to re-read Seth Godin's Linchpin. This book challenges and inspires you to lead from wherever you are in your organization - to become indispensable. A linchpin invents, leads, connects, makes things happen, creates order...

This week, we were lucky to listen to Anne Wallestad, CEO of BoardSource. She presented findings of their excellent report, Leading with Intent.

This survey of over 1,700 nonprofit leaders showed that 67% of executives and 64% of board chairs said fundraising performance needs to improve. So, if you're wishing your board would step up to raise money, you are not alone!

 Two things we can all do to help: 

1. Be clear about fundraising expectations when recruiting and orienting new board members.
2. Provide lots of "mission moments" so that board members really know what your org is up to and can tell personal stories about why it matters.

Check out the report for tons of nuggets on how to help your board be the one everyone wants to join - and the one that makes an inspiring difference.

Need a little help with board inspiration? We are reading THE POWER OF MOMENTS, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. This book is full of amazing ideas to provide moments of elevation,...

That's right! We said it.

You. Are. A. BADASS!

If you need a little reminder, refresher or reinforcement of how badass you really are, read Jen Sincero's books, You Are A Badass & You Are A Badass At Making Money. 

We are still fan-girling over Jen's talk this week at super awesome Watermark Books in Wichita.

She was irreverent, honest, sarcastic and inspiring - all the things you'd hope for in an author who titles chapters: Love the One You Is, Your Brain is Your Bitch and Gratitude: The Gateway Drug to Awesomeness.

I keep a copy of Jen's 10 Secrets to Being a Badass in my office. Here are 3 of my favorites:

• Leap Large - Take risks. All the time. Big, hairy, scary ones. Thrilling and terrifying are opposite sides of the same coin - if you're serious about changing your life, you will be feeling them both. Often. They are excellent signs that you're on the right path. When you get an intuitive hit to do something scary, run straight towards it before the excuses start...

We don't know about you, but we are ready for some SPRING around here! Yesterday we were bouncing around in over 60 degrees; today, it will snow. Grrr.

Wishing you all some sunshine - whether literal or metaphorical. Here, we hope, is a little. 

We are reading Big Potential, by Shawn Achor, and man does this book fit the "Friday inspiration" bill. We can't recommend it highly enough.

It turns out happiness, productivity, and career achievement are all about... interconnection. 

The questions that drive success are no longer " How smart are you?" "How creative are you?" or "How hard do you work?" They are instead:

• "How smart do you make others around you?"
• "How much creativity do you inspire?"
• "How much does your drive become contagious to a team or family?"

Even at hyper-competitive Harvard, those who achieved the most, both in college and after, were not the individual stars, they were the people who activated everyone around them.

Sounds generous, right? It's also...