"It's not, 'Hey, I want you to look at Activate! We're great. We're a top 50 company. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Come work for us.' You really have to get to know the person before they're going to allow you to really get to know them," he explained.
While some of these conversations may not result in an immediate hire, as trust develops, that time spent may pay off down the road. Booe has had an ongoing conversation with one person for about five years. "He's probably not going to leave his employer, but when you find the right person, you stay in touch," he said. "You never know when life's going to throw you a little curve ball, because it always does. So if you've covered a lot of that preliminary qualification ground, and the more conversations you have with people, the more comfortable you get, well, when you-know-what hits the fan and they have to make a decision, you've already covered a lot of that ground. You're in a good place."
Amanda L. Cole is the editor-in-chief of NonProfit PRO. She was formerly editor-in-chief of special projects for NonProfit PRO's sister publication, Promo Marketing. Contact her at acole@napco.com.