As a researcher, I find that most of the leadership books written for nonprofit organizations have shortcomings on the role of the executive director in fundraising. Primarily, the executive director inspires the vision of the organization and leads the fundraising. There are five key leadership ingredients to spark fundraising energy.

The first one is self-awareness, which calls for the executive director to be real, accessible, strong-willed, wise, and able to influence others. He should exhibit confidence, owing to mistakes, emotionally stable, good interpersonal skills, and intellectual understanding. Donors are motivated to give to an organization whose leader they know and trust.

Second, the sense of reality is key to fundraising. The executive director should have dual roles to play: establish a realistic vision and empower people to follow him. Fundraising involves the reality of money coming from donors and the reality of time dedicated to building fundraising programs.

The third ingredient is courage. The executive director must courageously create ideas and take risks. He should investigate situations that require leadership response and move on to solve those problems. Innovation or change requires skills to navigate complex and ambiguous situations. It involves collaboration that works in tandem with internal and external partnerships.

Fourth, compassion and passion are other keys to fundraising. The executive director should figure out what it takes to motivate, appreciate, and congratulate others for their achievements. It would help retain those with a passion to remain in the organization because they will find meaning and faith in their work. Your interpretation of compassion and passion should align with the sector of your organization.

Lastly, in ethical conscience followers always look for leaders who are honest, have integrity, conscientious, and fair-minded. However, it is very difficult to teach ethics since ethics considers personal and societal judgements. Ethics must be learned through experience to discern ethical situations for prompt action.

Leaders who are grounded in ethical principles are catalysts for excellence, caring, justice, and faith

Karla Williams in her book Leading the Fundraising Charge.

By virtue of being in the position of executive director, everyone’s eyes will be on you both inside and outside the organization; they will examine your behavior, reaffirming or questioning it.