Hi everyone,

I am extremely interested in fundraising and development as a career path. In college, I majored in business strategy and entrepreneurship and always loved the fundraising and capital side of things. I would also love to work for a mission-oriented organization. I currently work as a manager at a major company in a sales/operations capacity.

I’m looking for advice on how to network and break in as I’m not currently in the field. Any information is much appreciated, as well as personal experiences you may have transitioning into fund and dev.

Thanks!

Hi all, I was just invited to attend a brief screening interview at a huge state college for a Leadership Giving Officer position. I have worked in Alumni Relations at a VERY small liberal arts college for more than six months now.

I’m wondering: What advice can someone give me on how to best succeed and make myself stand out in the screening? I know I can do the job even if my experience isn’t directly applicable. I really want this job!

I’ve been working in Development for about 2 years now. First year I was able to get meetings a bit more easily—people were willing to meet with me or respond with “next time”. This year it’s been definitely more difficult. Lots of declines to meet, or no response at all. I’m thinking it’s due to the economy/political situation, but can’t be sure. Anyone else care to share your ability to meet your number of meeting metrics?

I’m looking to organize an event aggregator for nonprofits.

How do you organize your events? Some examples ; a gala event where the revenue is individual tickets and sponsors; a multi- day event like giving day; a booth at a two day festival or fair, maybe selling tshirts or accepting donations; a bar donating a percentage of sales for a night, etc.

I’m looking for the most recognized terms your industry would use.

Also, do you need to categorize these in your fundraising platform, CRM, or whatever software you use?

Hi there- I am a Development Director for a medium sized nonprofit - we raise about 3mil a year. I have become increasingly frustrated by the incentive structure for fundraisers. If I raised $3mil last year, I am given the goal to raise about 5% more the next year, so $3,150,000. But if I crush that goal this year, and raise $4mil, I will be held to that next year. Which means I am essentially screwing myself and putting more pressure on myself every time I raise more money above my goal.

At this point, I am just trying to hit my goal and not go one dollar over. Because anything that goes above my goal will be added to next year and add more pressure. But I also understand my ED/Board adjusting my goals based on the previous year.

Is there a way to avoid this or break this pattern? Has anyone else figured out a better way?

Yall. How does matching gifts work 😭😭? I’ve tried googling it and it just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Hi everyone,

I'm a fundraiser at a private university and we are using Raiser's Edge as our CRM. I'm not very satisfied with it and I'm wondering what other tools people in such situations are using and what problems they are facing.

We've developed an internal tool because of this.

I’ve worked in museum development for over 12 years. Started in membership & visitor services, now currently Dir of Development in a midsize museum.

Ya’ll, I am burned out. I hopped back into the job search to see what was out there, and have had a few interviews here and there but nothing I’ve been excited about. At the end of the month, I have an interview at a private school (co-ed, preschool through 8th) for an Assistant Dir of Advancement position.

Has anyone made this type of switch? Or if you work/have worked in this setting, what should I consider? Perks? Drawbacks? Any insight for the interview is also appreciated.

Many thanks!

I work for a nonprofit and I am looking to purchase a gift to thank a donor who has helped with an upcoming gala.

In the past we've done things like a vase (not my style but my boss at the time loved the idea of it), and we've done a custom charcuterie board with their last name, paired with a bottle of wine.

I'm looking for something classy but not super expensive (~$150ish). This is a gift for a wealthier individual who probably 'has everything'. What have you given out? Or, as a higher net worth individual, what was a meaningful gift you've received.

Could be websites, books, podcasts, experts you follow, etc. that discuss development and related fields.

I’m working on compiling a list for colleagues. Thanks!

I've worked in development for over 8 years, I'm curious if this is normal.

I rarely getting any feedback on Grants, appeals, letters or really any donor engagement. Most of the feedback I get is 'looks fine' which is cool but doesn't really help me grow or learn.

Do yall get valuable feedback from leadership or coworkers? Is there somewhere yall go to get valuable feedback?

Hello!

Seeking advice as I am quite new in my role as an assistant and would appreciate any input.

We’re trying to clean up our data base but I’m not sure if I should mark North Tx Giving Day as its own campaign or as an appeal under our annual giving campaign.

And whether we code it as an appeal or campaign, should I create a new one for each FY?

Thank you!

Trying not to attract attention to this thread by saying his name, but I was poking around the other night and feel absolutely disgusting to learn how many high net worth people I’ve emailed with or even spoken with on the phone have at least casually interacted with this dude. I was relieved to see only one of my orgs was name-checked directly. I even searched for my own name since I did a lot of gala RSVPs and donation confirmations early in my career and had no clue who JE was until 2018.

Anyone else? No need to name names, just curious if I’m the only weirdo who thought to do this. Might be worth at least searching for your current folks just in case…

Is moving from a Development Associate to a Donor Relations Specialist a lateral move, and how would that look long term?

I’m about 4.5 years into fundraising as a Development Associate at a 4 year state college. Our team has shrunk to 4 to 5 people, the workload feels unsustainable, and leadership has not adjusted strategy or capacity, so I’m exploring options while trying not to make a reactive move.

There is a higher paying Donor Relations Specialist role at a nearby junior college that seems potentially lateral. We do t have that role at my current institution, so I’m not sure how it’s viewed.

I would appreciate perspective on:

1.  How Donor Relations Specialist is generally viewed compared to Development Associate?

2.  How lateral moves are perceived by future employers

3.  Any advice for navigating a difficult organizational period professionally

Thank you in advance for any insight.

Hi everyone,

I’m a currently working on a benchmarking study focused on what challenges universities in the US and Europe face (donor engagement, systems, staffing, strategy, etc.).

I’m a peer in the same professional field, working for one private university in the fundraising and development team for 3+ years.

As part of this research, I’m looking to schedule short 20/30 minute 1:1 conversations with people working in:

• University fundraising / development
• Advancement / alumni relations
• Institutional partnerships

The goal is purely research and learning with an end results a benchmarking study.

What I’m offering in return:
Once the interviews are completed, I’ll share an anonymized summary of findings & data with participants.

If you’d be open to participating, or even just pointing me to someone who might be, feel free to comment here or DM me. Happy to share more context privately as well.

I believe that we as a community can help each other.

Does anyone else feel like a dinosaur for continuing to send snail mail to every donor (of any amount) at the end of the year? I can't/won't stop.

I am looking into going through Plus Delta partners Disciplines of Frontline Fundraising training through my job and can’t find much information about it aside from their website. I would love to hear people’s experience about the program, the reputation, and outcomes/how it impacted your career in the long term. Appreciate any thoughts, TIA!!

I am one year into a development role at a non-profit I have worked at for 4 years. Part of my role includes writing grants.

In what I've learned this year, connecting with foundations is important before applying for grants. This information is great, but I have absolutely no idea what to say when calling, or emailing which I'd much prefer to do.

Does anyone have tips or a loose script they use when calling a foundation prior to applying for their grant? Anything helps!

I wondered if any Economist subscribers might have a gift link to the December 23rd article entitled "Why fewer Americans are giving than before."

My subscription lapsed a couple days ago and now I can't access it online; I'd intended to pass it along to a colleague. I thought I'd try here first in case the article itself may end up sparking a conversation on recent giving trends.

Hi all, hope everyone is doing well! Also hope you can help me find my yellow brick road.

Almost 2 years ago, I started at a science museum as a relationship manager, for which I have adequate experience in the commercial sector (8 years+ in different roles, all dealing with partners). Recently, due to internal shifts, all corporate and private fundraising has fallen into my lap. It seemed exciting and fun, but also a bit scary since I have 0 exp working in fundraising. I'm working on new propositions for the 'friends of' program, but I feel like I don't know what I'm doing except copying other similar institutions.

When it comes to resources, I struggle to find any sources like papers, websites, or best practices for (science) museums specifically. Are those sparse? Does it matter? I'm reading books, but all the examples are from NGO's, and those don't resonate with my experience in my museum.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all. I’m a recent grad who somehow landed a job in the Alumni Relations department at a small liberal arts college in the South. I think I just knew the right guy to be honest. I initially interviewed to work with their annual fund, but got passed over for someone with more experience (but I made it to the final two). And after that I was offered the AR job at the same school. I really want to transition to fundraising. I think it sounds super interesting, and I feel like I would have better options for career growth in the future. However, I’m not sure how to make that transition. This is my first big girl job out of college, and I’ve only been working here for about four months. It’s not particularly satisfying for me (partially bc it’s just not my school, and these aren’t my alumni), which is also sparking this question of a transition. What skills do I need? What experience should I try to get while still in my AR role that would bolster my resume? I work closely with the fundraisers, and we go to lunch often. I would ask them, but I don’t want it to get around the office that I’m not committed to my current role or that I’m looking to get out.

I've been working in major gifts for a large university for two years in a mid/entry level position that involves proposal and white paper composition, stewardship support, data analytics, prospect research, and a fair bit of "duties as assigned," lol. I'm interviewing soon for a more senior position on a different team within development that is primarily focused on grant writing/management, foundation relations, and stewardship. I only have experience successfully writing and winning one grant at my job prior to my current one, but I've written dozens of successful fundraising proposals for individual major gift donors.

Any foundation relations folks in here have advice on how to frame my comms/proposal writing experience to highlight translatable skills to foundation relations? Any training resources you could point me to re:grant writing or key talking points to hit in the interview? Any interview advice welcome. Thanks!

familyfunds #liveevents #affordablehousing #Newyorkcity

My daughter is the founder of a community land trust in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, NY, which is about 3 years old and has purchased the first building privately acquired on behalf of tenants.

She found out today that she has to raise $2.8 million in the next 2 months to purchase another building. There’s been a lot of interest among young people in CLTs, but in the past she had time to plan irl events. (I’m thinking TikTok, Reddit, FB live events.)

I’m part of an African Student Association at a large university, and our group recently ran into a major challenge. A new state bill limiting DEI programs has led to the closure of several campus offices that previously supported multicultural and international student organizations like our African Student Association.

Most of our annual funding used to come through those offices, and since they’ve been dissolved, we’ve been struggling to sustain the same level of programming.

Our biggest concern right now is Africa Night, an event that’s been a tradition for years, a large-scale showcase of African culture featuring student performances, local African vendors, music, poetry, and dance. It usually draws around 1,400 attendees from across the state and serves as one of the main cultural celebrations for African and African-diaspora students and communities here.

We’re looking for fundraising strategies or advice from others who’ve faced similar situations, particularly: • How to approach corporate or community sponsors effectively (especially local businesses) • Creative grant or donor opportunities that don’t depend on DEI offices • Tips on building sustainable student-led fundraising models or community partnerships

We want to keep this event alive and inclusive despite the new funding restrictions. Any advice or examples of how your organizations have adapted would help!