"REGURGITATED VANILLA ADVICE"
Sep 28, 2017
One of our awesome members, Alex, emailed us after joining Fundraisers' Monthly and told us (after watching our "FU" video) she immediately subscribed.
Alex said, "...that is the moment I knew for sure the two of you would be able to give me direct and upbeat guidance instead of the same regurgitated vanilla advice..."
Hearing this from Alex made us ridiculously happy (seriously, Nancy and I were jumping up and down as we were reading her email).
It also made me think about all of the "regurgitated vanilla advice" there is out there.
I love fundraising, so this is not about bashing our industry, but who says we are supposed to be stiff, formulaic, jargony and...well...vanilla?
P.S. I love vanilla - shakes, cake, frosting - so this is also not about bashing vanilla.
Think about how much jargon we use in fundraising:
- Development (raising money)
- Advancement (raising money)
- Development Officer (a person who raises money for a living)
- Advancement Officer (another person who raises money for a living)
- Prospect (a person who might care about your cause)
- Solicitation (asking for money)
I know you could add 20 things to this list, but the point is:
You are a fundraiser because you genuinely want to connect with people.
Jargon removes people from the equation. It's an attempt to make us "professional", institutional and certified.
Jargon takes the soul out of raising money.
Here at Generous Change, we want more soul. More connection. More human. More success for you.
In Fundraisers' Monthly, you'll find very little regurgitated vanilla advice.
You'll find a little (ok maybe more than a little) nerdiness, a lot of laughing and as many real strategies, tips, tools, scripts and worksheets as we can possibly create to help you raise more money.
In the comments, tell us what advice you're looking for (please don't say you want the regurgitated vanilla kind 'cause we're all out!).
Wishing you so much success,
Jenna
