Fundraising in a big shop is really hard sometimes too.
You’re the development director, overseeing the development associate, development assistant, events director, grantwriter, outreach coordinator, major gifts officer, grant researcher, volunteer coordinator, envelope stuffer, marketing director, graphic designer, etc.
Meanwhile, because you’ve got so much support, you’re expected to perform miracles, even with a bad database, or a down economy. Or perhaps you feel pigeonholed into your role, with no chance to move up, or do new things.
How do you deal with all of this pressure?
You need to be able to delegate, you need the support of your peers, and you need to be willing to seek to constantly improve your department’s efficiency.
If you’re one of the cogs in the wheel, how do you gain the attention you deserve, while simultaneously working on your career and getting more experience in areas that interest you?
When it comes to career development, a nice thing about a big shop is that you’ve got a bigger budget, so you can go to conferences, learn from your peers, even get your CFRE or MPA subsidized.
If you’re working at a big university or a hospital, it’s easy to just saunter down the hall to talk with the major gifts officers, or the grants researchers. You can gab with the events planners or the Vice President of Marketing. You’ve got lots of people to learn from, and if they don’t have time to teach you, they can probably connect you with someone who does.
If you don’t feel like you can talk to anyone at work, twitter has a search feature where you can use the # symbol, hashtag or “octothorpe” to search for terms like #fundraising, #nonprofit career, #development, etc and find people who may be able to help you sort out a problem.
One resource I always come back to is Kim Klein’s Grassroots Fundraising Journal which has concise articles on nearly every topic you’ll ever need for fundraising. Well worth the nominal fee per article.
What are some pitfalls of a big shop that I’m leaving out?
What are some benefits that I don’t know about? Please let me know in the comments.
I want to know what you want.
Please tell me. Takes 5 mins. Tops.