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October 20, 2008

Finding Creative Ways to Spark Fund-Raising Careers

Nonprofit organizations are always seeking experienced fund raisers, and studies show that members of the millennial generation, made up of those born since 1980, are more interested in civic engagement than are previous generations.

But those young people won’t enter the pipeline for those jobs unless they’re introduced early to the broad range of careers available in fund raising, writes Erin Hall-Westfall and Naomi Marshall on the Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog.

Ms. Hall-Westfall, director for recruitment and human resources at the University of Michigan’s development office, and Ms. Marshall, conference director for advancement at Academic Impressions, a Denver organization that offers training in academic administration, note the scarcity of candidates for higher-education development jobs in particular.

“One of the richest pools for recruiting young professionals into the field is through existing university telefund/phonathon programs,” they write. “Many students initially join phonathon programs because of high pay and flexible hours, but after being exposed to development a small percentage apply for positions in annual giving.”

But such programs cannot show the full range of careers available in fund raising, the writers suggest. Therefore, they argue, more colleges and universities need to develop programs that will expose young people to the field.

In the summer of 2007, the University of Michigan started its Development Summer Internship Program. The program, Ms. Hall-Westfall and Ms. Marshall write, “introduces college students to the concept of fund raising as a career. Interns gain an understanding of the benefit of fund raising in today’s society, particularly its importance within higher education, through paid work on meaningful projects in fund raising offices throughout U-M and through for-credit course work.”

On December 3 and 4, Academic Impressions, and the University of Michigan are playing host at an event in Atlanta, which will show academic fund raisers how to create a similar program.

“Countless professionals in this sector talk about how they ‘fell into development,‘” Mr. Hall-Westfall and Ms. Marshall conclude. “We, instead, want the next generation of professionals to say, ‘I chose to work in development.‘”

— Heather Joslyn

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Monday October 20, 2008 | Permalink

Comments

1. My friend sent this article to me and I was ecstatic! I learned about Development through my Masters coursework at Florida State University. The Higher Education Program offers a course in Institutional Advancement and I fell in love with Development. I am really happy to hear that institutions are developing programs to encourage students, like me, to pursue this field. I am graduating in December and hope to join a Development team soon! Thank you, Heather, for publishing this article.

   — Karen Serrano    Oct 21, 12:22 PM    #

2. My first job fundraising was at my University’s phonathon! It helped me get over a fear of talking on the phone as well as basic negotiating skills that I use in my current development position three years later.

   — Whitney    Oct 21, 01:55 PM    #

3. Yes, thank you Heather for this post. We have an Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) collegiate chapter at our campus. Our goal is to increase awareness of career opportunities in fundraising and the non-profit sector. We plan to share this with our students. I, too, fell into fundraising as a student, working for my alma mater’s foundation. Upon entering the workforce, I was the only one of my twenty-something year old friends who chose a job (working for a higher ed foundation then a small, local non-profit years later) out of passion for the mission, not because I had to “settle” on an entry level job as a new graduate. My friends all said they wish they had known of such opportunities and a few have found their way into fundraising careers since then.

   — Leslie S. Greer    Oct 21, 01:57 PM    #

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