Parallels between Serving and Fundraising

Hey y’all,

I used to be a server before I was a fundraiser. And one of the things that I found most challenging about serving was the emotional labour endured while encountering wealth culture. For 5 years, I fantasized about a job and career where I wouldn’t have to consistently encounter wealth culture day-to-day.

Well…imagine my shock when I realized fundraising is much the same. Just much less direct about it.

This article is in ways a case study of wealth culture, power, and privilege. But, it’s also a love letter to my industry folks who are consistently undermined and told that their work is not “skilled labour”.

Here’s a quote from Anthony Bourdain that sums up my love for the people in the restaurant industry:

“You can always tell when a person has worked in a restaurant. There's an empathy that can only be cultivated by those who've stood between a hungry mouth and a $28 pork chop, a special understanding of the way a bunch of motley misfits can be a family. Service industry work develops the "soft skills" recruiters talk about on LinkedIn — discipline, promptness, the ability to absorb criticism, and most important, how to read people like a book. The work is thankless and fun and messy, and the world would be a kinder place if more people tried it. With all due respect to my former professors, I've long believed I gained more knowledge in kitchens, bars, and dining rooms than any college could even hold.”

Take a read and let me know what you think!

To my fellow industry folks: you hold so much more power than you know.