As a young first time executive director and fundraiser, I had so much to learn. All I wanted was for someone to make it simple and tell me how to put together a successful fundraising team.  I wanted to know what I was not doing that might be hurting our organization. Each time I stared at our budget and the payroll, my stomach hurt.

Thirteen years later, I had grown our development team from zero (unless you counted me) to 6 people.  This team was responsible for raising $1.6M. When I started, the organization raised $250k per year in individual and business donations. In 2014, over $2M (if you included capital pledges).