323 | Should fundraisers be more comfortable with ambiguity?

323 | Should fundraisers be more comfortable with ambiguity?

The Fundraising Talent Podcast, a production of Responsive Fundraising

As I shared with Andy today, I recall one of his books being among the first that I read early in my career. Now, more than two decades later, it was a pleasure to find so much common ground in how we think about fundraising. Perhaps what I most appreciated about our conversation was that Andy wants fundraisers to enjoy space where the metrics aren’t the focus and where collecting a check isn’t the only goal. As I have said many times myself, we have to afford the relationship the opportunity to do at least some of the job for us. 

Andy wants fundraisers and their employers to be more comfortable with ambiguity because our world seems to get more complex and unpredictable by the day; Andy insists that developing a tolerance for ambiguity is a good trait to have. As studies demonstrated decades ago, Andy wants boards and nonprofit leaders to appreciate the fact that muddling through can sometimes be as good an approach as a well-structured and highly detailed strategy.

As always, we are especially grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent. 

If you’d like to learn more about Responsive Fundraising’s sense-making retreats, email me for more information. 

If you’d like to learn more about the messy middle, download our free white paper entitled, Making sense of the messy middle.

For more information about the upcoming Nonprofit Consulting Conference, visit their website here

As always, we are grateful to CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast.

podcastJason Lewis