Follow Your Passions
I'll say it again, life is about following your passions. We are told over and over in life (parents, friends, peers, colleagues, etc) that if you do follow your passion, the money will follow. To that end, I wanted to share some thoughts on risks and following your passion by asking everyone to watch this great video of Steve Jobs giving the commencement speech at Stanford University. Steve Jobs is the co-founder and CEO of Apple and Pixar Animation Studios (recently acquired by Disney). You either love him or hate him. However, no one can say that Steve has not been one of the most influential individuals in technology ever! Yes, I am a fan!
If you embark upon this journey you will hear about a young college student who was attending one of the top liberal arts programs in the nation, Reed College, but instead of being excited by that opportunity he decided it would be better to follow his passions around graphic design, kerning, fonts, etc. He stopped attending his necessary classes for graduation and began "dropping in" on classes that he enjoyed, loved, looked forward to and actually did homework for. He continued to research, read, create appointments with individuals / companies who shared this passion with him. Most of you know the story that he dropped out entirely, started Apple and let's just say he is doing just fine.
What does all this mean? Well let's start with any campaign or fundraiser you might have going on right now. Why are you doing it? Can you find some small (or large) way that this campaign impacts your life personally? Can you draw upon that energy to connect with others to drive you to success? What creative step are you going to take right now to bring you one step closer to your fundraising goal? To share a personal passion. I love endurance events, mainly running. However, I recently started doing triathlons as well. The connection is that I have done a couple Team in Training events which combines endurance athletics and fundraising for a fantastic cause. So I ask you how can you bring one of your personal life passions to help your fundraising goals?
As always, if you have any product suggestions or simply want to share a great story about online fundraising please do not hesitate to email me at kirk.sadler@blackbaud.com.
Happy Fundraising!