As Development Officers, we think a lot about money. There are goals to be met, programs to fund, salaries to pay. Even when everyone: staff, board, dedicated donors and volunteers help, that goal feels very personal. The stress can feel enormous and too often Development staff leaves. Fourteen months is the average stay for a Director of Development. Fourteen months and carefully built relationships must be rebuilt.

But what if we reframe Development’s job. Yes. We’re raising money, but that is the outcome of building a team of compassionate people with a shared concern for others’ well-being. That concern may be for starving kittens or hungry kids or homeless families or a dying species, but it is built on caring for someone or something other than self.

What if we are enormously grateful for our compassionate team and for the good we’re making possible – together, and what if we share our gratitude with the team: staff, board, donors, advocates and volunteers.

What if we rejoiced in the opportunity to be kind and generous, and in our ability to share the opportunity?

We might just meet our goal – together.

We might feel satisfaction rather than stress.

How do I know? Because, according to psychologist, Sonja Lyubomvisky there are:

Three factors that seem to have the greatest influence on increasing happiness:

1. Our ability to reframe our situation more positively.
2. Our ability to experience gratitude.
3. Our choice to be kind and generous.

Or as the Dalai Lama says, “A compassionate concern for others’ well-being is the source of happiness.” And isn’t that what Development is all about really – not dollars, but a compassionate concern for others.

So what if we did these three things and met out goals, helped others, and found happiness!