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June 04, 2009

American Fund Raisers Face Challenges Working Overseas

A growing number of American fund raisers are taking jobs at universities, hospitals, and other organizations overseas, but with very mixed results, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Among the most challenging difficulties fund raisers face are stark cultural differences, even between countries that share a language and a common heritage, such as the United States and Great Britain.

“I would try to have my team call donors and set up high tea, but they told me there is a class system,” recalls Denise Nuehring, a fund raiser who worked at the Natural History Museum’s Darwin Centre, in London, for three years. “They are dukes and duchesses, and we cannot ask them because we are not in the same class. My boss told me we were servants behind the scene, and I didn’t like that.”

Americans often get frustrated that people in other countries don’t want to adopt ideas that are common in the United States. For example, in Europe, charities rarely expect board members to give.

Still, when the fit is right, many North Americans say that raising money overseas is the most rewarding position they have ever had.

“It forces you to do your best work,” says Young Dawkins, an American who is chief fund raiser at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. “I have never worked harder, but it is enormously satisfying.”

Read seven lessons learned by an American who recently returned from an overseas job.

Thursday June 4, 2009 | Permalink

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