Learn how fundraisers build relationships to gather money for their organization's cause
Learn how fundraisers build relationships to gather money for their organization's cause
Job description of a fundraiser.
CandidCareer.com (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Transcript
So my name is Jordan Evangelista.
I'm currently an Advancement and Giving Specialist at Penn State Hershey, working primarily with Four Diamonds to raise money to beat and defeat childhood cancer.
So it's basically fundraising and increasing knowledge of philanthropy.
So what I do is I meet with donors all around the country and solicit funds for the Four Diamonds organization, to raise money for beating cancer.
So some of the time is spent in the office, gathering data on different individuals that would be appropriate to solicit for money for Four Diamonds.
And some of it is spent out on the road actually meeting with these donors and hearing their stories, figuring out why they're passionate about our cause, and eventually asking them to continue or start to support the cause.
We get a list of individuals that have previously supported the cause, or for some reason show up on our radar as having interest in supporting our cause.
From there, we'll just get a little bit of their history, maybe see what they're involved in, what they've supported in the past.
Reaching out to them directly via phone and email, trying to set up a lunch or coffee meeting.
And eventually meeting with them, sharing more about our cause, figuring out what areas would be best suited for them, and getting their dollars in the door in hopes that their money will go towards what they're passionate about.
There can occasionally be special circumstances where we're trying to raise more dollars if there's different initiatives that we're trying to support, or in order to make a bigger impact at various points of the year.
Obviously THON is one of our big fundraising opportunities, so we're really trying to get as many dollars in the door as possible before THON, so that we can elevate those numbers and make that project an even bigger success.
So fundraising is a lot of people skills.
So learning peoples' interests, learning, sort of, what their passion is, and where their interests lie.
And I was a psychology major here at Millersville, so my understanding of the human experience and how the mind works, allows me to be an effective fundraiser, which is helpful.
I'm currently an Advancement and Giving Specialist at Penn State Hershey, working primarily with Four Diamonds to raise money to beat and defeat childhood cancer.
So it's basically fundraising and increasing knowledge of philanthropy.
So what I do is I meet with donors all around the country and solicit funds for the Four Diamonds organization, to raise money for beating cancer.
So some of the time is spent in the office, gathering data on different individuals that would be appropriate to solicit for money for Four Diamonds.
And some of it is spent out on the road actually meeting with these donors and hearing their stories, figuring out why they're passionate about our cause, and eventually asking them to continue or start to support the cause.
We get a list of individuals that have previously supported the cause, or for some reason show up on our radar as having interest in supporting our cause.
From there, we'll just get a little bit of their history, maybe see what they're involved in, what they've supported in the past.
Reaching out to them directly via phone and email, trying to set up a lunch or coffee meeting.
And eventually meeting with them, sharing more about our cause, figuring out what areas would be best suited for them, and getting their dollars in the door in hopes that their money will go towards what they're passionate about.
There can occasionally be special circumstances where we're trying to raise more dollars if there's different initiatives that we're trying to support, or in order to make a bigger impact at various points of the year.
Obviously THON is one of our big fundraising opportunities, so we're really trying to get as many dollars in the door as possible before THON, so that we can elevate those numbers and make that project an even bigger success.
So fundraising is a lot of people skills.
So learning peoples' interests, learning, sort of, what their passion is, and where their interests lie.
And I was a psychology major here at Millersville, so my understanding of the human experience and how the mind works, allows me to be an effective fundraiser, which is helpful.