Successful Fundraisers Recruit the Strongest

Great fundraisers build the most effective people around them. Not only staff, but volunteers.

Particularly with volunteers, they recruit those who are leaders in their field. They recruit men and women who are driven by the passions and qualities that make one successful. It is amazing how much you can accomplish by learning, listening, and following great leaders.

The successful ones know that if you don’t care who gets the credit, you will be able to accomplish unbelievable achievements.

Si Seymour, perhaps the most all-time exalted professional in our field said: “It is worth repeating, I think, that the layman takes the credit, and the professional takes the wrap. That to seek credit is to lose it.  And that to avoid credit usually results in getting more than you really deserve.”

The strongest in our field recruit the strongest to work with. You can always tell the caliber and character of a development officer by the people he or she recruits.

If the volunteers are weak, you can almost be certain you have a weak development person. If the volunteers are powerful and devoted, you have a high voltage staff person.

The “amateur” in fundraising is more necessary than ever. By “amateur,” I refer to the Latin meaning of the word: lover.

Find, seek, recruit the strongest volunteers. You will find, like any good lover, they give back in return much more than they receive.