The Nonprofit FAQ

How can I become a fundraising consultant?
Tony Poderis (see contact information at end) wrote to Nonprofit@RAIN.org (http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/nonprofit) on September 16, 2003:

I regularly hear from individuals who have little, or no, non-profit
fund-raising management experience who ask --- "How do I get to be a
fund-raising consultant?" Another such question came my way yesterday.
Those asking have never designed, produced, and managed a fund-raising
campaign.

Now, those of us in the "business" long enough to be in position to
employ our experience and knowledge to be fund-raising consultants, do
not regard the profession as being exclusive to us --- or that we are
somehow specially "anointed" by the fund-raising "gods" to be
consultants.

On the contrary. We know from enough hard-earned experience what it
takes to provide sound and reliable counsel to non-profits unable to
fathom how to face the hard and frustrating work of recruiting
volunteers, identifying prospects, managing campaigns, and asking for
money. Without that experience, no one should expect to be hired as a
fund-raising consultant, regardless the books and articles they read or
the number of seminars they attend. There is much more to the
profession than "going by the book" and "wanting to be a consultant."

Clients will look to consultants to the full extent that they will
provide to the organization the detailed plans and the tools necessary
for the organization to do its job and raise the money it needs. This
is one profession where the professional cannot say to a client, "I
don’t know." And certainly not ask, "What do we do next?"

Knowledge and experience must be possessed by a consultant when all
heads are turned and all eyes are focused on the consultant at the other
end of the table during a campaign progress meeting and that consultant
is expected to answer any question.

But knowledge and experience will be of little use without the
consultant’s wisdom --- the instinct to know, in ever-changing
circumstances, what to do and when to do it, while at the same time
possessing a highly positive temperament, and having the "chemistry" to
make it all work.

A fund-raising development consultant must be ready with answers to the
inevitable questions coming from clients such as:
  • Why isn't the money coming in? Why is it not coming in faster?
  • What do we do now that the campaign Chair has resigned?
  • Why isn't the solicitation committee doing its job?
  • What do we do now that our biggest and most promising prospect has
    said "no?"
  • Should we call off the campaign for now until the economy gets
    better?
  • Do you think we should lower the goal since it seems we can't reach
    it?
  • I know we still need a million dollars to reach our goal, but
    shouldn't we take our campaign now to the general community and ask for
    their $50 and $100 gifts? (Try to convince the campaign chair that even
    if you focus on asking for gifts of $1,000 that you will need 1,000 of
    those!)
  • What do we do since our own Trustees are not giving at the rate we
    had counted on?
  • You are a consultant, supposed to be experienced in fund-raising.
    Since we are not as experienced in asking for the money as you, and with
    our campaign lagging behind, why can’t you make some solicitation calls
    for us?
  • What are we paying you for anyway?

And so they go, on and on. Would you be able to answer those questions
satisfactorily?

So, if you want to be a fund-raising consultant, and before you take the
plunge, make certain that you have more than adequate experience and
that you possess superior judgment --- and that more often than not,
"luck" seems to favor you. It’s a most rewarding and fulfilling --- but
definitely a precarious --- profession. It's not for everyone.

I've got a few articles on my website which might work well with your
non-profit fund-raising consultant career development. They are as
follows:


Best wishes for many, good, and paying --- especially paying on time ---
clients.

Tony Poderis

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Posted 9/16/03 -- PB