October's post comes to us from Mary Collin, who is the Director of Research/Alumni Relations/Special Projects at Central Piedmont Community College.

I have been very fortunate in my professional career in prospect research. In my early career, my employer brought in two power-house women who at the time were working for a consulting firm. They helped me set up shop, trained me on the available tools, and ignited my already abundant curiosity. They helped me refine and deliver gathered information into a workable, cohesive format that would come to define me as a solid and reliable prospect researcher.

I have watched the stellar careers of both these women over the years. How fortunate I was to have been schooled, tutored, and mentored by these women.

One of the most important lessons I learned during training was to ask questions. I proudly delivered a project to a development officer only to have it handed back with a note that it was not what was needed. When I called the consultants, I got this sage reply, “You gave her what she asked for, but it was not what she wanted. Did you take the time to ask her what she needed, how she was going to use it, or what the overall project was?”

Keeping those questions as my focal point has helped me through the years. It keeps me humble, reminds me that while we are all working towards a common goal, the delivery of research goods needs to be in a usable format for the development officer receiving it. As a single-person shop, that means I sometimes have to append my delivery to meet the audience.

Am I spoiling my development officers? Maybe.

Getting to know the development officers, their personalities, and needs, gets me invited into their inner circle. I get called into strategy meetings to weigh-in and offer opinions based on findings. I have learned to trust the development officers and they have learned to trust me.

Developing relationships with the development officers also led me to join the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and to gain certification as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE.) Was this necessary? No.  What it did, was to give me insight into the dynamics of fundraising and the challenges of being a development officer. I believe it made me a better researcher. It helped change my mindset, and chinked away at the wall that sometimes separates “us” from “them.”

The great thing about our profession is that we all have the opportunity to be great, to find our niche, our specialty and to create a dynamic working relationship that will advance the field and the profession. So take the chance, strike up a conversation with the development officers and ask what they need from you. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I will always be indebted to Karen L. Green and Diane Crane, for their knowledge-base and mentoring skills that helped launch my career.