Each of us are unique in some way. We all like to feel and celebrate our uniqueness. Being human, we are also very much the same as our fellows.
I have had the pleasure of working with many, many worthy nonprofit organizations. Each have had their own unique characteristics. They have also been very much the same.
The beauty of The Eight Principles™ is that they are the truisms of fundraising that apply to all fundraising situations. They never change.
Knowing that your particular challenge fits within these overall boundaries moves you more quickly to a sure and lasting solution. The unique fundraising idea is that your problem is not unique.
Those that are earnestly seeking a real solution to a fundraising problem welcome this insight. It makes the problem solvable, the obstacle surmountable.
There have been those times that I have encountered those that vehemently insist that their challenge or problem is, indeed, somehow unique and thus doesn’t fit within known wisdom.
There is certainly that possibility. What I’ve seen, however, is usually someone who plays the “unique” card as a way to avoid doing the difficult thing. It’s so much easier to complain.
The unique nonprofit fundraising idea is to remember that your problem is most likely not unique. It’s reassuring to know that you’re in the known universe and not on an undiscovered star. It’s a whole lot easier to get your fundraising program where you want it to be if you know someone’s been there before.
