First published 15 April, 2019 In 2018 the FIA Foundation commissioned a new piece of research to look at the characteristics of truly exceptional fundraising organisations in Australia. The results of this study were launched at the FIA conference in Melbourne in March. For me there were several stand-out issues. EXCEPTIONAL LEADERS The first was the quality of the leadership. Our great organisations had exceptional leaders who had a steely belief in their ability to achieve significant growth. They were also individuals who were immensely humble about their achievements, typically citing the source of their success as the team they had appointed around them. We also found a high incidence…