coolmite

I became a fundraiser pretty much by accident.  Circa 2000, I worked for a dot-bomb called Mascot Network.  It was a great company with really bright people and a really accessible web portal for college students.  It missed MySpace by a few years and got punished by Campus Pipeline.  Thus, I was unemployed in 2001.  I was marketing this product at college campuses in Ohio and Pennsylvania.  I really enjoyed being back in that atmosphere.

So, on my brother’s advice, I decided to look for a job in alumni relations or development.   I found a job in alumni at Northwestern University.  It was a great job.  I interacted with many brilliant NU grads, helped them build alumni clubs, and learned a lot.  If I could have gotten college free, I’d have gone to school while I was there for my master’s degree.

Then, Karyn and I got pregnant.  We always said we’d move back to Ohio to have kids.  She’s from Streetsboro and I’m from Canfield, so naturally, northeast Ohio would become our home again.  I needed a new job, so I used a contact of mine from Kent State to parlay into a job in development.

I started at the ground floor working on projects.  Fundraising is NOT easy.  It’s not rocket science, as my brother, Tim, likes to remind me, but it’s not easy.  You have to really be persistent and work hard.  There are good days and bad days.  Plus, you have to be able to wrangle or manage deans, professors, and volunteers to help you close major gifts.  Ultimately, you need to know who you’re working for and really believe in what you’re selling.   It’s not about you; it’s about the institution.

I worked at Kent State for five years.  With a new president and some turmoil in the level of management above me, I decided to move on.  The Cleveland Clinic hired me in May 2007.  I work at one of their regional hospitals.  So far, it’s been really great and rewarding.  I think I’ve found my niche, which is something I couldn’t say five years ago.