Follow My Rule of the Eight
This may seem over-simplistic, but take a look at my I’s. They truly encompass all of the vital criteria necessary to be a highly successful fundraiser. It is your Magna Carta for fundraising.
If you have five of this group, you’ll be good in the field. If you have seven or eight, you are almost certain to be great. Here they are:
- Integrity
- Instinct
- Intelligence
- Imagination
- Intestines
- Irreverence
- Intensity
- Inthusiasm
You’re wondering about some of these. Integrity leads the list. It isn’t important— it is everything.
By Instinct I mean being street savvy. Having a sixth sense about what to do.
I wrote about Intelligence earlier in one of my Verities. I’m not referring to someone at genius level. Good common sense and the ability to make wise decisions and strategize. That’s what counts.
Imagination is essential. To be innovative. To think beyond your present limits. To dream. To fashion. To vision.
You’re wondering about Intestines. By that I mean (are you ready for this!) guts. You must be bold. Audacious. You do the salto mortale every day. That circus parlance for an aerial somersault performed on a tightrope. Without a safety net. It requires courage.
By Irreverence, I mean a willingness to break the status quo. The barnacle is confronted with an existential decision early in its age about where it’s going to live. Once it decides that, it spends the rest of its life with its head cemented to a rock. There it stays in place for its entire existence. You’re not pleased about staying in place. In some ways, you are irreverent about the past. You live in the future.
Intensity refers to being driven. The train is on a fast track and it is being propelled forward. You know only two speeds: Fast and Faster.
Yes, I know I reached a bit to make this last I! It takes unbridled Inthusiasm, for the job, the mission, and the people you call on. A passion that is obvious. And by the way, this passion is infectious— others catch it from you.
