Back in June of this year, NonProfit Pro published an article about the five "Donor Love Languages," stemming from Dr. Gary Chapman's well-known book about strengthening romantic relationships, "The 5 Love Languages." With Thanksgiving on the horizon, many of us really start to think about the things, people and situations that we are thankful for. Oftentimes, these include our family, friends, jobs and opportunities and Thanksgiving and the holiday season offer the ideal chance to show love and thankfulness in a very tangible way.

You're a dedicated fundraiser with a passion for your mission. You know the ins and outs of major gift programs, creating campaigns, organizing donor data, segmenting your constituents and handling appeals. But asking for donations, no matter how seasoned you are in the world of fundraising, can still be intimidating and even a little awkward.

Even if you're typically relaxed, easy-going and go-with-the-flow, there's a little bit of Type A in all of us. When you're walking through the store and see a jar of peanut butter facing the wrong direction, one shirt unfolded, a roll of paper towel in the soup aisle... there's a little piece of all of us that gets driven a little crazy by these inconsistencies.

It’s that time of year again, and whether you’re holding on tight to the last few remnants of summer with your kids or ushering them out the door, back-to-school is inevitable. By the time they’re getting on the bus to head to their first day of school, you are confident that their lunch is packed, backpack is zipped, supplies are purchased, they’re rocking their first-day-of-school outfit and you’re mentally prepared not to cry (OK, maybe a little) this year. They’re ready and you’re ready to take on another year.

We won’t deny it – working for a nonprofit organization is hard. Limited funding, endless hours of work that so often goes unrecognized, number crunching, task juggling and fundraising. While Metafile is not a nonprofit, we work closely with the organizations who work day and night to accomplish their missions and see the blood, sweat and tears that nonprofiteers put into their work. This, and many other blog posts out in cyberspace, probably make you wonder why anyone would ever choose to work for a nonprofit.