Submitted by Doug Wingo
Founder + Principal, Wingo NYC
At many non-profit organizations there is a real divide between the program staff and the fundraising staff, a wall where there should be a window. Early in my fundraising career of nearly 40 years, I often felt othered, misunderstood by the program folks who intimated that we were dirty somehow by being the money people, dealing with the rich people. I knew a lot about what the program staff did – I had to write about it, to sell it, but they didn’t understand what I did. It bothered me, until I came to the realization that fundraising is actually a form of advocacy, a vital form of advocacy and activism, designed to:
Change hearts and minds by educating people about what’s really happening, what’s at stake and engaging them in being part of the solution
Build long-term relationships, with all sorts of people, which is not easy but necessary to sustain movements for change over the decades
Manipulate human behavior, getting them to think differently and to act – to make a gift, to volunteer, to be philanthropic
None of this is easy, which is why being a fundraiser is a calling. Many of us could sell our wares to Madison Avenue or Wall Street and make a lot more money, but we chose a different path. We seek and find meaning in advocacy.
So, instead of a wall, see a window, and open it.
