Note: Apply by 12/31/24 for the Circle starting January 2025!
Fundraising friends, I know how it is for you.
Because I’ve been there too.
Needing to make wine out of water on the daily.
Caring SO much about the mission you’re serving that you regularly deny — or, let’s face it, even just forget! — your own needs.
Wishing you had some support… but where would it come from?
You know you’re in this alone, and you need to find a way through, with at least some of your sanity intact.
Sadly, there’s no one coming to help you.
And the daily reality of that can feel crushing.
Forgetting to eat?
Been there.
Bathroom breaks?
Maybe later.
I remember one fundraising event I was planning as a Development Director.
As the event approached, and the necessary to-dos piled up, the overwhelm was, well, overwhelming. There was SO much to do… and the event was coming, whether I was ready or not.
My husband kept telling me to delegate. “Delegate to who?!,” I’d ask him. There was literally NO ONE who could help carry the load.
I’m guessing you know that feeling.
Feeling SO alone, with no support, is so, so hard.
And in our world of fundraising, we all know that showing how much all of that is affecting you is not often a viable option.
Everyone around you is just putting their head down and doing the work with never-quite-enough resources.
So you feel like you have to do the same… right?
But.
Wait a minute.
What if you COULD have some support to lean on? Knowledgeable, timely guidance to help you through the roadblocks? Feedback on the never-ending stream of critical decisions that need to be made?
What would it feel like to have a compassionate, experienced circle of colleagues around you — those who both understand where you are and can help you navigate all of it with wisdom, experience, and know-how?
Oh my.
I would have probably tripped and fallen flat on my face, I would have been running so fast towards that opportunity!
But that opportunity didn’t exist then.
So I created it.
Introducing the Wisdom Circle for Philanthropy.
No, this is not just another professional development opportunity, conference, one-day training, or “educational” online video or webinar.
This is an opportunity to truly connect with your peers.
To learn.
To continuously build your skills.
To practically move through your real-time challenges.
But it is also SO much more than that.
We’ll gather twice a month (in sessions that you’ll actually look forward to, ones that will fill your energy cup). This will not be yet another meeting filling up your calendar with time-and-energy-gobbling frustration.
The Wisdom Circle for Philanthropy is a place…
…where you can show up as your authentic self…
…where you will be embraced with warmth….
…where you will grow a community…
…where you will find both an experienced guide AND other mid-to-later-career fundraisers who you can build genuine relationships with and find support from...
…where you can get answers to questions you’re encountering, and that are stumping you, in your work… in real time….
…where you will receive practical support and guidance for your ongoing projects…
…where you will be held accountable at whatever level feels nourishing…
…where you will always be met with kindness, even when you’re hearing hard truths.
The Wisdom Circle for Philanthropy is a place…
…where you can bring your most gnarly problems…
…and find your way through them…
… where you can have your own humanity consistently affirmed, and learn how to do the same for everyone around you…
…where you will find wisdom again and again — both from others and inside yourself.
My heartfelt wishes for you:
that you’ll no longer feel alone
that you’ll have a dedicated place to bring the problems you’re facing
that you’ll have the support you need to get your work done — more effectively and efficiently than you would have otherwise
that this is different than most professional development you’ve experienced; it’s directly applicable to your daily work, because it’s based on your daily work
that you will learn so much from hearing what your peers are experiencing, and from witnessing how they are being guided through their own issues
that you can bring any issue you’re facing — whether a tricky grant proposal or a fundraising letter you’re working on writing, a challenging issue with a teammate, or an ego-driven donor you’re struggling to build rapport with
that there will be trust and confidentiality within the Circle
that the Circle will be part fundraising course, part problem-solving resource, part networking and community-building, part support group, part on-the-job training… and more…
The Experience
What will you experience in the Wisdom Circle for Philanthropy? The twice-monthly Circle Gathering is just one of the many benefits of this opportunity.
In sum, you’ll have access to the following:
Monthly: Two Circle Gatherings (via Zoom, live, NOT recorded)
Monthly: One Guest Gathering [learning w/ a special guest] (via Zoom, recorded)
Ongoing: Slack workspace for regular community-building, support, guidance
Quarterly 1:1 Coaching Meeting with Cecelia (via Zoom)
1:1 Coaching/Welcome Session when you first join
Who It’s For
You consider yourself to be in your mid-to-later career. You’ve been around the block. A few times. You’ve learned the basics — and started teaching them to others.
Yet, at this point in your career, you feel a sense of dissonance between why you were first drawn to this work, years ago, and how you experience it now.
You want to find your purpose, your joy, your humanity in this work.
You long for support and guidance that is relevant to you and your work.
Sometimes you think about leaving this field.
You are interested in finding ways to go about this work that feel better, ones more aligned with your ideals and values.
You value equity, justice, and community.
You love to learn by doing.
You thrive when you have the right support.
You’re committed to your own personal and professional growth, and you are jazzed about supporting others as they seek the same.
Format of Circle Gatherings (90 mins)
Opening: Grounding (a few nourishing moments together)
Connections (sharing who we are with each other)
Words of Wisdom (hear some words of wisdom re: a chosen teaching/topic)
Case Studies (member(s) share and work through case studies based on their experiences; case studies will be chosen and prepped ahead of time)
Emergent Issues: Coaching, Guidance, Community Support (support for your emergent issues, as time allows)
Closing: Being Human Together (some final nourishing moments together)
Format of Guest Gatherings (1 hr)
Cecelia introduces, interviews, talks with guest
Cecelia facilitates questions for guest from you
The Exchange
You receive all of the above.
You give, in return: $350/month.
Joining with a teammate? Both of you can take $50 off your monthly fee.
If this amount will be difficult for you, scholarships may be available. Just ask. If funds are available, you’ll receive them; no need to quantify or prove your need.
On the other hand, if you are able to pay an extra $100/month — or to make a one-time extra contribution — to help support the scholarship fund, let’s talk.
We can bill your employer if needed.
This will be some of the most high-quality, relevant, practical professional development that you can possibly find — so ideally, your employer will be happy to support your having this experience.
Circle memberships are a rolling subscription from month-to-month.
I request a six-month commitment to the Circle when you start.
Yet, you can cancel anytime.
I sincerely hope you’ll consider my invitation to this unique group — and join us.
The work we all do fuels so much essential, powerful, meaningful work in our world. So I believe it’s absolutely critical that we find ways to be more well-resourced, more well-supported, and more connected to each other.
That is how we’ll all be most successful.
Reminder: Apply by 12/31/24 for the Circle starting January 2025!