Over the years, I've been to many, many conferences.  And because fundraising isn't rocket science, I often feel that surely, by now, I've heard, seen and definitely learned it all.  And yet, I often walk away with a new insight, a reminder of something that I have somehow left behind, a renewed enthusiasm for the work I do.

   It's that last that is most valuable to me. 

   It is so easy to begin to feel that I've been there, done that.  Sometimes that puts a damper on my enthusiasm; curbs my creativity.  Makes me close-minded when being open is what is required.

   I'm just back from New York, participating in and presenting at the National Endowment Legacy Institute put on by PEJE.  The purpose of this conference was to bring together Jewish Day Schools who are part of a national program called Generations, which is helping these schools build endowments.  It's what I sometimes call a "closed-loop" group.  Everyone is involved with Jewish Day Schools and probably 99% of the people gathered would identify themselves as Jewish.  And yet, there was a tremendous amount of diversity in manner, belief, and most germane-level of fundraising sophistication.

   With all that, there was the one thing that makes the entire nonprofit sector so special-a commitment to make a difference.

The difference here was a focus on the future.  Too often, nonprofits are so busy scrambling to close the funding gap between what they have and what it actually costs to fulfill their mission they forget about tomorrow.  At ELI, everyone was taking a long view:  How can we ensure that our organization is there to serve long after we are all gone?

   When you take that long view, you realize the importance of understanding your community-who supports you and why.  It makes you look to see that your mission is the right one.  It makes you consider what is immutable, and what will-inevitably-change.

   The best thing about conferences is the networking you get to do; the people you see; the conversations you have beyond the sessions.  The second best thing is the fact that you are taken out of your every day routines and that forces you to see things in a different light.  Future thinking does much the same. 

   Both provide you with a different lens.  You see things more clearly.  Often, you notice things that were fuzzy or even hidden from sight.

   In whatever way you can, lift your head up from what you do every day-learn something new, remember something old, consider where you want your organization to be twenty-five years from now.

Stop focusing on what is urgently banging on your door and look beyond.  See what is really important, and move to work on that.

 Sometimes, we aren't looking to the future, we are not even really being present--we are stuck at a point and came seem to move forward.  So we're talking about Getting Unstuck.  And about customer service--why it really is the most important thing your organization does.

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 Need help in increasing your fundraising capacity or getting your Board to participate?  

Help is here.  Email me or call 310-990-9151.

• Are your fundraising results down?
•  Board members bored?  
• Are you thinking about a campaign? 
• Or perhaps you need individual fundraising coaching!

Whatever your capacity building needs, Janet Levine Consulting can help.

  

 Send me an email or give me a call at 310-990-9151 to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. 

I look forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely,

 Janet