Hannah Paton

I would go back to what I said about the people who gave me opportunities and mentorship. I haven't had a straightforward path from my college degree to where I am now, but I have stayed curious and stayed open to opportunities. I've been really lucky to have people take a chance on me, and it's happened over and over again. The executive director of the nonprofit theater where I started my career was the first one who gave me some grant writing to do and helped me through a couple of really rocky first proposals. Then when I worked with the college, my boss there, who was the executive director of the Foundation, Rail Anderson, was a magnificent fundraiser who taught me a ton as well. At SparkPoint, I've had the opportunity to learn from really wonderful people, both internally on our team and from every client and every organization I've worked with. Something I'm really excited about as I move into more of a leadership position is that I want to be that person now who's taking a chance on others and giving them opportunities, because you've got to pay it forward.

I would say find an issue that you're really passionate about, because that's what makes people great fundraisers. It's not necessarily just that you're a great writer or you can really work a room, but it's that when you talk to people about the thing that you're fundraising for, they can understand why you're excited about it and what's the most important thing that they should be interested in right now. So just follow that passion.

It's a very challenging time for nonprofits, and specifically in the fundraising field. There have been a lot of changes to federal funding programs that have been very stable in the past, but now we're seeing a lot of big changes. Organizations are having to look to other streams of revenue, and there's a trickle-down effect where there's more competition for foundation funding. For a lot of the people we work with, it just feels like a chaotic time when there's a lot of changes. The need for nonprofit services isn't going down - in a lot of places it's increasing. We're seeing more food insecurity, more homelessness, so the big problems aren't going away, but the way that we fundraise for them is changing. What's really interesting is that I work with people in Denver, Asheville, and D.C., but the stories that nonprofits are telling me are pretty similar across the board. They're dealing with a lot of the same struggles. It's challenging because you're seeing it everywhere, but there's also a lot of solidarity and people coming together at the same time, so there are some positives that can come out of it. On the opportunities side, nonprofits are such an incredible force for good. I get to work with so many incredibly smart and compassionate people, and hearing them talk about the communities that they're part of and the solutions that they're building is really inspiring. That's what helps me stay optimistic, even though when you write grants you're spending a lot of your time immersed in explaining the problems and researching all the statistics about why things are bad. Seeing all the people that are creating these solutions is what keeps me going.

What's always drawn me to nonprofit work is that it's such a wonderful way to do something that has a positive impact on the world. Particularly working with so many different organizations, it's really nice to see how nobody can solve the whole problem, but everybody has a role to play. I think that living up to that and doing your part, even if it's small, is really important. I'm also just a big extrovert who loves people and stories. I really want to hear what everyone's doing and what's important to them, and when you hear that, it gets you fired up too. I feel so lucky to get to work with - honestly, I think I work with the smartest people in the world, and I'm always getting to learn something new. The last thing I would say is that for SparkPoint, one of our company values is kindness, and I think that's pretty widespread throughout the types of people that are drawn to nonprofit work. It's simple, but just treating other people with care is really important and it's the way that I work.