This may or may not surprise you, but my first real job was in the hold of a fishing boat.
I grew up in a family of fishermen and women, so from the time I was small, it was seabirds overhead and salt in the air. Work was loud and messy and really, really honest.
So that’s my origin story: A tiny place where people still show up for each other without being asked. And where kittiwakes nest on the edge of cliffs. As a community, a collective.
When I think about the work we do, I think a lot about them. I think about those small seabirds lifting themselves straight up into the blue sky, no matter how hard the wind might be blowing.
Because fundraisers live up there in the blue sky, too. And they face tough conditions to get there, too.
But they still wake up every morning believing the world can be better, and they can be part of it, if they show up and work together.
I learned what it means to show up from my mother, and she’s become an inspiration for Kittiwake.
Because I want us to feel like the person who shows up at your door, like she did, with a basket of baked goods and a calm voice saying, “We see how hard you’re working and what you’re working for.”
“And you don’t have to do it alone.”
None of the work we do, or fundraisers do, happens because of a solo hero. It’s the fundraisers and the staff and the CEO and the board and the finance team and the person who answers the phone.
And that takes systems, strategy, investment, training, and ownership over the direction.
That’s what we do, and that’s why we’re called Kittiwake.
It’s a reminder of that fishing boat, my mother’s bread, and our whole team’s belief that fundraising takes bravery, to be comfortable on the cliff’s edge. It takes community, a whole collective of support.
And it takes looking up at the blue sky, and showing up every day, believing you can get there.
We hope this newsletter helps you find that lift, and we hope you’ll follow along for more stories, lessons learned, and practical support for fundraisers and their teams.
We’ll see you up there,
Joanne
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