After more than 30 years in fundraising, I still find myself learning things about the work that I didn't expect to learn when I started.

One of them is how often the most valuable part of fundraising has nothing to do with fundraising itself.

Over the years, I've had hundreds of conversations with nonprofit leaders, board members, volunteers and donors. Some were about a particular campaign or funding opportunity. Others had nothing to do with fundraising at all.

And yet, those conversations have probably taught me more about fundraising than any book, course or strategy ever could.

They've taught me that people are motivated by very different things. That what seems obvious to us isn't always obvious to someone else. That relationships rarely develop according to a plan. And that a conversation that doesn't appear to be going anywhere can sometimes become the one that matters most.

Maybe that's one of the things we lose sight of when we become too focused on fundraising techniques.

The best fundraising often starts long before anyone talks about fundraising.

I'm curious: what has a conversation taught you about fundraising that no strategy ever could?