You’d think that if you help a national nonprofit 2x their revenue, $1 million in the bank, increase their staff by 40%, and secure massive sponsors you’d feel satisfied… in reality, I was burned out.
But let’s take a step back.
As a CEO of a national trade association we were updating, upgrading, and getting amazing results. I should have felt satisfied, happy even with our successes. It wasn’t that difficult to expand our outreach. It wasn’t that hard to engage with potential donors. Truthfully, it wasn’t even that hard to raise money. So you might think it was a huge success.
In reality, I was burned out. I wasn’t sleeping, I was waking up early to catch flights and deliver my elevator speeches in boardrooms and engage our community from Florida to California. The insane pressure to keep the momentum going was very real. No doubt my approach worked – the focus, magnetic message, clear value proposition, and engagement led to more money and more mission.