Major-gifts fundraising is often regarded as more an art than a science. To be good at the job, fundraisers must be skilled in building relationships and able to accept rejection. No one tactic is going to work with every donor, so the job requires versatility, too.
The role isn’t for everyone, and few people take the same path into major-gifts work. “You talk to 12 different development officers, you get 12 different stories about how they ended up” in the job, says Nick McLaren, senior director of development and alumni relations at the College of Social Science at Michigan State University.
Still, most who work in major gifts say there are steps people can take to improve their skills and best position themselves to land a job as a frontline fundraiser. The Chronicle spoke with experts about the steps people working in development should take if they aspire to the role.
Assess whether the job is right for you. One of the first questions to ask yourself is, “Am I good at forming relationships?” says Rob Henry, who oversees training and educational programs for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. A frontline fundraiser will build connections with numerous donors and many other people, so interpersonal skills are paramount, he explains.
If you’re unsure, ask people at your office which fundraising jobs they can see you in, Mr. Henry advises. If they don’t say “major gifts” and instead mention a position that requires less interaction with donors, “that might mean you’re not the best person to go into frontline fundraising.”
Another way to test your suitability is to accompany the executive director or a development officer when they ask for a big donation. If the meeting makes you feel uncomfortable, “this is not you’re career trajectory,” says Michelle Heck, co-founder of recruiting agency Nonprofit Talent.
Find mentors. If, after taking those steps, you still think the job is right for you, seek out veteran fundraisers who can show you the ropes.
“You’re going to find that fundraising is a mentoring [and] apprenticeship field,” says William Weber, president of Development Guild, a nonprofit recruiting firm. “People pretty much learn on the job from people with more experience.”
If you’re at a smaller nonprofit and can’t find a mentor, the Association of Fundraising Professionals or CASE should be able to help you hook up with someone outside of your organization, Mr. Weber says.
Seek opportunities. If your fundraising colleagues are swamped, offer to take on prospects they can’t get to or assist them with current big donors, Ms. Heck recommends.
Approach such situations with care, she cautions, and wait to get direction on which donors or prospects to contact to ensure you’re not stepping on anyone’s toes. But at the end of the day, she says, most organizations are seeking ambitious fundraisers and good managers will likely give you some sort of opportunity.
“Nobody is going to say, ‘No, you can’t go out and ask for money,’ " Ms. Heck says. “Taking the initiative and trying bodes really well in terms of somebody’s potential success.”
When seeking such opportunities, Mr. Weber suggests, remind supervisors of any experience you’ve had interacting with big donors in the past, at events or in other capacities.
Identify the traits you need and hone them. Some of the key qualities a major-gifts fundraiser needs can be learned, says Ms Heck. In her view, aspiring frontline fundraisers must be patient and learn to check their egos “so that being told ‘no’ is not the end of the world.’ "
She adds: “If you’re not afraid of rejection, you’re going to be a lot more willing to try and to make the ask.”
Major-gifts fundraisers also need to know how to listen well, says Mr. Weber, so they can develop follow-up plans tailored to individual donors’ interests.
Mentors can help with skills-building. For more organized training, local colleges sometimes offer continuing-education courses in nonprofit fundraising, and there are plenty of online offerings as well, Ms. Heck says.
Be careful where you start. Assess whether the first major-gifts job you take will lead to better opportunities down the road, Mr. Henry says.
Part of that is determining if your prospective new organization is financially stable and a decent place to work. If the nonprofit’s revenue is growing and turnover among fundraisers is low, those are good signs.
What you’re raising money for should matter to you, too, and will be key to your success, Mr. Weber says: “If you don’t connect to the mission, why do it?”
