There is nothing easy about being a Fundraiser, it can feel like a pretty lonely place when you don't win that pitch, or the trust application you've been working on doesn't come off, or the event you were holding didn't draw the numbers due to rain etc. No time for licking wounds, you have to dust yourself off and get back out there. In some ways, this this is no different to any other sector where Sales and Marketing Managers make a pitch or Project and Event Managers stage an event. The difference with fundraising is that unlike other sectors, there is no bonus incentive scheme if you hit that target. The incentive IS hitting the target and bringing in the income that will make a difference to someone's health, or to our planet and the animals that live on it or the arts that inspire us. That is why you should be proud of being a Fundraiser, or proud of the Fundraisers in your team.
The Fundraisers I work with are self motivated, target driven, passionate, focused, able to multi task, professional, quick to adapt their communication style to suit any number of audiences and have the ability to search and seek out an opportunity where others would fail to see one.
So, on behalf of the planet, all living creatures, museums, art galleries and universities thank you for going to work everyday and doing what you do.
Who, when, where:
Polly Symondson has worked as a
fundraising professional for over 10 years both in-house with
Macmillan Cancer Support and FARM-Africa, and as a consultant working
with a diverse portfolio of not for profit clients. Polly is now director of Polly
Symondson Recruitment – a consultancy that specialises in placing
fundraisers. To register as a candidate or to fill a vacancy please return to our main website.
