Hobbies

Hobbies Help

Seriously, the Fancy Knots Help Me Be a Better Fundraising Professional

Since my Bar Mitzvah, I have been tying neck-tie knots the same way, a half-Windsor knot.  Every time I tied the knot I would say to myself, one, two, around and through.; the same words my dad shared with me when he first taught me how to tie a tie.  Then one day about a year ago, I was looking up some new neckties to purchase when not so randomly on my Facebook sidebar there was an advertisement for the following weblog:  "9 Ways to Transform a Tie into a Stunning Knot"  http://diply.com/creativeideas/9-ways-transform-a-tie-into-a-stunning-knot/21342.  I watched a few videos and I was hooked!

Over time I found a few YouTube Channels that focus on tying fancy knots.  Many offices have casual Fridays, however I learned from my mentor, you never know when a donor or a prospect may walk in, so you always need to dress like you're worth it.  My compromise was #FancyKnotFriday where I could dress nice but test out some creative knots.  I usually post the knots on Facebook with the hashtag #FancyKnotFriday.  People have shared with me that even though they may not like or comment on the post, they look forward to seeing my knot each week.   I also love when I arrive at Temple Beth Am on Friday mornings the Head of Security looks for my knot and also a few teachers say, "It's Yom Shishi, what is your knot today?" 

Even with the amount of people that enjoy seeing the creativity, a few others have expressed their feelings that all you need is one or two knots, keep it simple.   My response to them is, the fancy knots actually help me be a better development professional.  Yes, you read that correctly, the knots do indeed help me to be a better development professional, let me explain. One major misconception of fundraising professionals is that all we care about is the amount of money we raise.  If that was what I cared about, I would hate my job and I would not be successful.   The heart of being a great development professional is building relationships.  Since I have started wearing fancy knots to events, conferences or meetings, I have found it significantly easier to start conversations with people I don't know, or don't know well.  Often they will notice the knot because it is not something they have ever seen before which opens the door for me to share with them my hobby.  After I speak about knots and share some photos on my phone (where they get to see some pics of my kids as I slide through the images) I feel very comfortable asking them about their hobbies or if the conversation has progressed to children, we talk abou t them.  People love to talk about things they enjoy doing and even more they love talking about their children.  The ice is broken and now next time I see that person I can easily follow-up and ask about their children or how their soccer game went or if they saw a great show or something that would be meaningful to them.  This new relationship developed quicker and easier all because I wore a fancy knot. 

Not every hobby is as visible as a fancy knot, however learning about someone's hobbies can help develop deeper connections which can in turn develop stronger relationships.  It will also make your conversation a little more memorable than discussing what you do as your job.

 Majesty Knot (it should slightly resemble a crown)