Freelancing your Fundraising Career
If you’re out of work right now or looking for a change, have you ever considered freelancing?
Today I was talking with a friend of mine, Steve Havelka, a veteran eight year freelancer, and he had some wisdom to share that completely inspired me.
He said, “You’re not going to know your niche right away. It takes a little while to figure out how to make money freelancing. But you can do it. When selling your services, you don’t have to do everything. Just do one thing well.” He does back end web development really well, and he’s made a good living at it. If you need some programming for your nonprofit or for your business website, I would highly recommend his services.
Why freelance?
You’re not happy in an office.
You hate going to work every day.
The people who hired you don’t like paying for a full time person.
You want to get to decide what you do with your time.
You have good boundaries, you know how to say no, you know what you will do, and you know what you won’t do, and you know which clients you will accept, and those you won’t accept.
Because you’re motivated to succeed, and anyplace seems better than where you’re at right now.
Why not do it?
Because you really like your boss
Because having a steady meager paycheck appeals to you.
Because you feel that the security you have right now outweighs any potential benefit that you might have as a freelancer.
How do you start it?
It’s not difficult. You can begin today.
0. Amuse yourself. Take the quiz on which field of fundraising suits you best.
1. Sign up for my free e-newsletter and get my free e-book on the right hand side of the page here. When you sign up, you’ll learn how to find out how comfortable you are with various areas of fundraising. Learn what your assumptions are, what your class is.
2. Read a book. When it comes out, get The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising book. Start reading. Start finding out what freelance field gets your juices flowing. I just finished Michael Gerber’s “The E-Myth Enterprise” and it made me think. It’s not only innovative, it’s well written, and it leaves you wanting more.
3. Take a class or three at the Foundation Center, or one of the cooperating collections, or at your local nonprofit membership organization. In Portland, Oregon, TACS is a good place to find courses. In Austin, Texas, TANO or Greenlights will be more your bag. At these places, You’ll find allies, mentors, and co-conspirators in the fight to make a better world.
4. Go to a conference. One happening right now in Austin is the RISE AUSTIN conference. It’s a free 5 day conference on how to be a successful entrepreneur, started by Red McCombs, the guy who founded an entire MBA school, the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. I got to hear him speak last night. What a treat! A conference you might want to attend in Portland Oregon is the WVDO (Willamette Valley Development Officers) conference. Or you could attend the national AFP (Association for Fundraising Professionals) conference.
5. Do what makes you feel alive. Be prepared to work, but keep your spark in everything that you do.
If you’re currently a freelancer, please leave a comment with anything you feel I’ve left out.
If you’re looking to become a freelancer, please leave a comment with anything you would like to ask.
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