Analytical Skills vs. People Skills In Fundraising

What are the "new" skills fundraising professionals need to survive in the high-pressure, high-expectation environment of today's nonprofit world?

We're grateful for AFP's emphasis on ethics and professional development. The organization has done so much to elevate awareness of fundraising as a profession, not as an activity. And as such, we know our own skills are constantly growing and evolving--they must.

Holly Hall wrote a piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (April 4, 2010) discussing analytical knowledge, entrepreneurial skills and cross-cultural knowledge as hallmarks of the modern fundraiser.

"People still give to people; they don't give to data," Kimberly Hawkins said in her letter to the Chronicle of Philanthropy in response to this recent article.

Hawkins argued that all of the skills Hall referred to are needed in the development department but requiring too much of a single person may seriously impact their effectiveness at anything. She sites burnout and turnover as results of these unrealistic expectations.

Read her letter, Jacks of All Trades May be Masters of None, and let us know what you think. How much is too much?