By: Melissa Bank Stepno, President & CEO
Sometimes ideas need time to simmer.
Last March, right in the middle of Research Pride Month, I happened—by pure coincidence—to be reading Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. In short, it is a business and leadership book grounded in Guidara’s own experiences at the highest levels of the restaurant world.
As I read, I kept flagging passages with sticky notes. This might be something someday, I thought. I didn’t realize that “someday” would take a full year.
So, what does a book about restaurants have to do with Research Pride?
Everything.
The Sometimes Invisible Work that Shapes Outcomes
The restaurant industry is, at its core, a service industry. Most service industries are thought of as “in the background” type of work that often goes unknown or underappreciated.
Guidara’s central argument is that when service is rooted in expertise, intention, and care, it becomes something more. Elevated service doesn’t just support outcomes; it shapes them. It provides for a better experience, empowers others to succeed and creates impact far beyond what’s immediately visible.
Prospect Development fits squarely in this idea of elevated service.
Our work is largely unseen by the donors that support the organizations we represent. It happens behind the scenes while gift officers and institutional leaders are out front. And yet, when research is done thoughtfully and with purpose, it drives strategy, sharpens decisions, and makes everyone around us better at their jobs.
Like the best service work, the value of prospect development work isn’t measured by visibility. It’s measured by the confidence, clarity, and effectiveness it creates for others.
And, in my mind, this is what Pride is really about.
Defining Pride
According to Merriam-Webster, pride includes self-respect, confidence, and pleasure in work that’s worthy of honor. In our professional context, I will define pride as:
Pride is the recognition of the value, skill, and impact of work that is often invisible.
It’s not about ego. It’s not about being “out front.” It’s about understanding why the work matters—and claiming its importance without apology. It’s quiet confidence: knowing that even when the work happens behind the scenes, it shapes decisions, strengthens relationships, and moves institutions forward.
Lessons from Hospitality, Applied to Prospect Development
Guidara’s book offers several ideas that translate powerfully to our profession.
A year later, three of the passages I flagged with sticky notes seemed particularly appropriate for this post:
- Lifelong Learning
Guidara describes his mentor’s philosophy as a “constant, gentle pressure.” It is a version of the Japanese philosophy of kaizen, the idea that everyone should always be improving, just a little, all the time.
This mindset feels familiar. Prospect development is a field filled with lifelong learners, by necessity and by nature. Every new prospect introduces a new industry, a new context, a new set of questions. New tools promise to help us work smarter and more strategically.
Curiosity isn’t optional in this work—it’s foundational.
- Knowing Why the Work Matters
Guidara argues that service work can sometimes feel demeaning, unless people understand the importance of what they’re doing and the impact they can have.
No one would say prospect development is demeaning, but historically, we have been framed as “support,” sometimes even as secondary to front-line roles. That framing misses the point. Being in service of others is not something to downplay. When done well, it’s a point of pride.
We make gift officers better. We help them be more informed, more confident, and more effective. This helps bring more mission-critical dollars into the organizations that we represent. Our work directly influences outcomes, even if our names aren’t always attached to them.
- Being Fundamentally Reactive
Guidara describes great hospitality as “fundamentally reactive”—responding to information gathered in advance, cues picked up in the moment, and patterns recognized over time.
This is prospect development in a nutshell.
We react not just to data, but to context. We look beyond the facts to understand the why. We set up news alerts, review giving patterns, flag moments that matter, and anticipate needs before they’re articulated by our gift officers. It’s part preparation, part intuition—and entirely strategic.
Claiming Our Pride
Prospect Development Pride Month isn’t about asking to be seen more or trying to make room for ourselves at the proverbial table.
It’s about seeing ourselves clearly and demonstrating through our actions the value that we bring.
It’s about recognizing that behind-the-scenes work can still be high-impact work. That service, when rooted in expertise and intention, is not “less than”—it’s essential.
And that’s something worth being proud of.
