Carolyn's Nonprofit Blog

I learn by doing. Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog is focused on sharing personal experiences in nonprofit fundraising, from my earliest days as a volunteer for a local art museum in the 1980s, to designing and running major gift campaigns for organizations large and small today. My aim is to help others in the field seeking support and guidance. In addition to my own writings, I provide more than 1,500 links to outside resources.

What kind of learner are you?

Washington Technical Institute shares the VARK model in, “The Science Of Learning: Exploring The 4 Most Common Learning Styles” (2023). “Do you find that you learn best when you read information on a page, or would you rather listen to a lecture and take notes? Do you need to physically engage with your learning material, such as through hands-on activities, or do you prefer to visualize concepts in your mind?”

• Visual
• Auditory
• Reading and writing
• Kinesthetic

I am a combination of a “visual” and “kinesthetic” learner. I learn by doing things by hand, but also visually. Growing up, standardized tests were a challenge, for example, but I worked hard at them and managed to get survive them. Yet, I could recall visual information and absorb information via hands-on instruction easily.

As we navigate the nonprofit workspace, rather than relying solely on Myers-Briggs-type standardized tests, we might also ask the people with whom we are working – from staff to volunteers – what kind of learner they are. The article I reference links to a VARK questionnaire, should that be helpful.

A highly regarded fundraising consultant I once met while promoting his book on “asking” told me he was a musician by training, who also worked for many years with the nonprofit arm of a symphony orchestra. We shared our experiences “hearing” what donors are actually saying by the way in which they said it, rather than the actual words they were uttering. That conversation was a revelation! The look on their faces, their body posture, and the tone of the voices can tell you almost as much as the actual words spoken by donors in my experience.

Circling back to Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog and my personal experiences, I wanted to point out a special section called, “A Brief Account.” When you scroll down the front page, you will find it beneath the Main Menu and, “Top Reads.” There, I share real life stores about working with leading donors and volunteers, and in many cases, my “asking” experiences.

I hope these are helpful to those of you struggling with nonprofit development. And although my blog is of course written, I hope it is helpful whatever your learning style may be.

You might also enjoy, “Mentoring and ‘Real World’ Fundraising,” where I share how I came to work in the nonprofit sector, and how mentoring made such a difference in my life.

If you are considering a change in career to the nonprofit fundraising arena, the following page might be helpful as well. I do find quite a few people are seeking user-friendly information about getting involved in the sector. Check out, “How to Launch Your Grant Writing Career.” While grant writing is just one aspect of the work I do today, this article is one of my most-read in 2024, and clearly people are seeking information about making a career change. Glad to see it!

Best wishes for your fundraising success. Questions? Use my secure contact form to reach me.