That’s right. I’m declaring this week Fundraiser Kudos Week.

I made it up, but with holidays like International Bacon Day and Make a Hat Day, I think Fundraiser Kudos Week passes the laugh test and more.

Why?

Because according to a recent Sea Change survey, fundraisers feel under appreciated and misunderstood.

  • We feel like most people in the organizations where we work think we are a “necessary” evil rather than a mission-critical part of the organization.
  • We feel pressure to meet crazy budgets with few resources.
  • We feel like professional development opportunities are few and far between.
  • We feel like boards and executive leadership rarely have our backs.

These are just a few of the insights we discovered while researching our latest think piece about the barriers we face in creating cultures of philanthropy.

We’ll be releasing the full paper this fall.

In the meantime, celebrate being a fundraiser today. Take your team out to coffee. Give them an inspiring pep talk about how their efforts are central to making change in the world. Focus on a project that you’ve wanted to tackle, but haven’t made time for because of “internal politics.”

You get it. Do something special for yourself and your team.

#FundraiserKudosWeek