6 Ways to Advance Your Career as a Fundraiser

Where are you headed?

It’s an important question to be asking. To be better fundraisers, we need to make a commitment to our own personal advancement. As you think about what you’ll do next as a fundraiser, here are some important things to consider:

Channel Surf

If you’re managing a phonathon, try to talk with or help the direct mail expert at your institution. Start a young alumni or student philanthropy program. Writing email solicitations, managing volunteers, or working with the database all require different skills. When you move up in management, you’ll need to know about all of them so you can coach and evaluate your team.

Change the Paradigm

If you’re in the annual fund, you might want to consider a leadership, major gift, or prospect research position. Those of us who have done both can tell you that there are some common skills, but the daily work is very different. Most people see the route up in fundraising through bigger gifts, but we are experiencing a real shortage of experienced annual giving and advancement services professionals and there are some incredible advancement opportunities to be found by staying in or going back to annual giving work.

Network and Attend Conferences

Most growth opportunities come from personal connections. If you’re buried in your work and haven’t had a chance to take advantage of what organizations like AFP or CASE have to offer, it’s time to get involved. There are probably local lunchtime opportunities if budget is an issue. Don’t forget to join us at our annual RuffaloCODY Conference.  Stay tuned for details to come!

Get (Another) Degree

There are now over 25 master’s degree programs in philanthropy and some world-class certificate and doctoral programs. Many offer an online or hybrid option. Learning from experts and fellow fundraisers in an intense degree program will expand your knowledge quickly.

Get Certified

If you have five years of direct fundraising experience, you can consider going through the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) process. You can begin your application and track your progress at no cost immediately. If you’re already a CFRE, consider the ACFRE program through AFP.

Volunteer

If there is a small nonprofit in your community meeting a need that matches your passion, then they would probably love to have a volunteer or board member with professional fundraising experience. This will give you a fundraising perspective outside your current job and hone the skill of working with limited resources.

Fundraising is a fun and exciting field with a variety of challenging opportunities.  The key to your career as a fundraiser is developing yourself as a lifelong learner.  If you have any questions about any of the opportunities here, feel free to contact us.  We would love to hear from you!