Overcoming Fear As A Major Gifts Officer

If you are like most people, you probably feel stagnant in life. 

Your life isn’t that bad overall. You have a job that you sort-of like, your house is okay, and you meet up with your friends for brunch when the stars align. You should probably read more books, but it’s an alright life, all things considered.

Everyday life can be pretty mundane. One day often flows into the next. Before you know it, you’ve driven home and don’t even know how you got there. Such is life when you live on autopilot. 

Let’s be honest, how many risks do you take? You can probably count how many mornings you woke up and thought, “This is the day I’m going to change everything.”

You can only squeeze so much fulfillment out of doing the same thing day in and day out. You need to shake things up. A change of pace. 

You have probably spent a lot of time thinking about what your life could look like. You want to move to a new city, decorate a new place, and find a new job. You’ve been down the rabbit hole of the internet looking for new careers. You should start a business, but you always wondered what it’d be like to be a major gifts officer. Fundraising for non-profits — how fulfilling would that be? Sounds like good karma.

Staying Motivated As A Major Gifts Officer

So why haven’t you done it yet? Why are you still drinking wine in your tornado-struck living room while you binge-watch Game of Thrones for the second time? You already know the ending is disappointing. 

If you feel attacked, that’s probably because you know you’ve been avoiding taking the right steps to move forward. Sure, you know what you have to do, but those things are hard. And you’re busy. You’ve got a job and kids to deal with. And you need time for yourself too, okay? The major gifts officer career change has to wait until next week, at least. 

Believe it or not, it is pretty common for someone to consciously convince themselves that they want changes in their lives, but do nothing about it. If you’ve found yourself scrolling Instagram or TikTok looking at everyone else’s fictitious dream life instead of creating major gifts officer cover letters, you’re not alone. 

Or maybe, this isn’t your story at all. 

Maybe you’ve done the research. You’ve looked up the average major gifts officer salary (pretty enticing, right?). You’ve researched how to plan fundraising events. You’ve fixed up your major gifts officer resume. You’re motivated and you are going to do this. A career change is at your fingertips. 

Still, you haven’t submitted that resume.

Taking Initiative As A Major Gifts Officer

“But I’m going to. Soon. I just need to organize my house and start this whole thing off on the right foot. I can’t take on a new job when everything else is out of control.”

To that, I say: “No, you won’t.” 

If your reaction was “You’re probably right”, it is okay. 

You’re not alone in your use of procrastination as an avoidance technique. 

The biggest driving factor behind procrastination is fear. 

Fear is why you haven’t started the business you’ve been talking about for years. Fear is the reason you haven’t written the book that has been floating in your head. Fear is the reason you haven’t applied for the major gifts officer job yet.

Fear of what, though?

Fear of success.

Fear of failure.

Fear of what others might think, say, or do

Or maybe, fear of all of the above. 

Procrastination leaves you unhappy, unmotivated, and unfulfilled. After all, how can you do anything right if you can’t even fill out a job application? Make procrastination a part of the past.

But how do you fix it? How do you stop sabotaging your own best interests?

Figure out who is looking up to you. 

If you know someone is looking up to you, you immediately have a responsibility. You’re not going to be the person to let them down, right?

You are no longer getting that major gifts officer job for yourself. You are getting that major gifts officer job because you need to prove to someone else that they can achieve whatever they put their mind to. 

Achieving Goals As A Major Gifts Officer

Fear is never going to go away.

So many things you encounter in life will involve fear. Applying for the job may be intimidating, but what do you think is going to happen when you get the major gifts officer job?

Creating a fundraising plan? Scary.

Asking people for major gifts? Scary.

Speaking at events? Scary.

Most people eventually realize that to live a genuine, aligned life, they must do things that make them uncomfortable. 

You do not top out your major gifts officer donations by hiding behind a curtain of fear. You only have one life, are you going to spend it scrolling through the Netflix menu because it doesn’t take effort? Or are you going to help that children’s group raise money so those kids can be famous one day? It’s your call to make, and yours only. 

Once we realize that inspired action leads us toward a life of authenticity, life becomes limitless. Shedding the weight of the opinions of others could be the one thing that skyrockets your major gifts officer career. 

There is no place for fear in success.