I recognized a cycle repeating, and it scared me. Because I saw my mother hate her body, I hated mine. Because I hated mine, my children would likely learn to hate theirs. And I couldn't abide that.

It’s not really about the number “40” but more about the severe contraction of that expansive world I envisioned at 30.

There *is* a way to get people to actually read development content: balance the celebration of a donor's impact while telling compelling stories about the people, places, and ideas their contributions will support.

We *can* tell better fundraising stories, and it doesn't have to hurt. I share lessons learned from the trenches in this post for Donor Relations Guru.