Last month I wrote about starting a career in college fund raising, focusing on the various tracks from which job candidates might come to the profession. So now, armed with self-confidence and a sparkling résumé, you're ready to make the leap. But what part of the development profession do you want to enter? And at what level?
Before I dive into the details, let me first offer a categorical disclaimer -- a warning label. My descriptions are not meant to create or sustain stereotypes, suggesting that all development professionals fit certain molds. So, fellow fund raisers, if you're inclined to object to stereotypes and find my descriptions misaligned with your own personalities, kindly resist the urge to flame. These generalizations simply attempt to convey subtle differences in a field whose specialties do have a great deal in common.
In fact, let's initially expose these similarities, characteristics typically found among development folk. Fund raisers tend to be social animals, gregarious "people" people who've mastered small talk and cocktail prattle. We're never comfortable with dead air; we don't let air die in the first place. We greet you with a firm handshake, make good eye contact, pretend to listen, nod approvingly, and remember your name. We're quick to make friends and, at least professionally, have a wide circle of acquaintances. We love celebrations and splashy parties, move effortlessly from one conversation to the next, know our golf handicaps, and keep up with current events, on campus and off. We dress well, speak well, and appear consummately put together.
Yet we have certain qualities that distinguish us from one another. Join me, then, in a tour of the offices. We'll meet your potential colleagues and gain a deeper appreciation of each function.
Our first stop is the Annual Fund. These worker bees keep the development hive buzzing with high-volume activity. They aim at the bottom of the gift pyramid, seeking modest contributions of unrestricted dollars so critical to an institution's welfare. Their MO consists of continued mass appeals, phonathons, and direct mail. Ever crunching numbers, they're quantity-driven, paying close attention to participation rates, average gift size, lapsed donors, and address corrections. In some Annual Fund shops, officers might make face-to-face visits in the attempt to ramp up giving and, perhaps, identify potential major donors. But it's essentially an in-house operation, and many choose it for that reason.
The Annual Fund does offer an attractive gateway to development. Young alumni often find this an inviting option. They can serve their alma mater, learn the mechanics of fund raising, and avoid stressing over individual visits while they hone their style and perfect their personal pitch. For those early in their careers, a phonathon-manager position, something with the Parents' Fund, or even an assistant director slot might make sense.
Next up on our tour is Major Gifts. Representing that fatty midsection of the gift pyramid, this function is the meat and potatoes of development. Talented sales people, Major Gifts officers seek contributions normally in the $25,000 to $500,000 range while carrying portfolios numbering anywhere from 150 to 300 prospects. But in contrast to the Annual Fund's high-volume approach, they cultivate donors one at a time. A patient, deliberate strategy is key; the cultivation cycle sometimes stretches over several years before fund raisers realize a significant gift.
Opportunities abound in Major Gifts offices. Often candidates with the right credentials can land a job with little or no fund-raising experience, especially if they're aiming for a freewheeling "development officer" spot with no managerial responsibilities. Moving up a bit, an assistant director position is not out of reach. If you've worked in or with nonprofit organizations, have a sales background, know how colleges operate, and like to travel, then perhaps you should consider this track. What's more, with development offices increasingly looking abroad for donors, you might be particularly well-suited if you can boast considerable international experience or speak a foreign language.
Of course, if you do land in Major Gifts, you'll need to become familiar with its next-door discipline, Planned Giving. The oft-mentioned and highly anticipated "intergenerational transfer of wealth" will occur largely through bequests and other gift-planning vehicles. As a fund raiser dealing with individuals, you'll be required to learn (at a basic level) about such things as remainder trusts, charitable-gift annuities, life-income funds, and lead trusts. Sound fun?
Don't stress, though, because the complex negotiations typically occur between the donor, his or her financial adviser, and the college's planned-giving officer. With that in mind, if you're already a lawyer, accountant, or estate planner, and have helped clients make charitable commitments, then you might find a natural home in planned giving.
Staying with individual giving, let's shuffle over to the corner office and to the very top of the pyramid. Here we find the patricians in Principal Gifts (or Special Gifts or Ultimate Gifts or some similar superlative). These lords of the lucre have the glamour jobs, rubbing elbows with high net-worth prospects. They bring in the megagifts you read about in the media, those $20-million-plus contributions that cause many college presidents to muse, "Boy, if only ..." Keep walking -- these are not entry-level jobs. Rather, they're occupied by the Sean Connerys and Kathleen Turners of development -- the suave, seasoned sophisticates oozing that certain charismatic flair that attracts people and their money. Some day, perhaps, but not now.
Down the hall and around the corner is the office of Corporate and Foundation Relations. Unlike their counterparts in the Annual Fund and Major Gifts, these professionals focus on attracting funds from institutions, not individuals. Money typically comes in as cash, so the financial transaction is rarely a concern, as it often is with Major or Planned Giving. Grants come in all sizes and can therefore land anywhere on the gift pyramid. The MO of these folks is a bit different from that of a Major Gifts person, requiring less travel and more time working directly with faculty members and typing furiously behind monitors.
Consider the bias, since I work in corporate relations, but I've often heard Corporate and Foundation Relations described as the "thinking man's" development pursuit, largely because of the need for strong writing and conceptual skills and the ability to understand and discuss a wide range of academic subjects. In truth, you'll find many people with advanced degrees, even doctorates, in this office. It commonly attracts former faculty members or once-aspiring ones, people similar to the foundation program officers with whom they deal.
So if you consider yourself cut from the scholarly cloth and love exploring new fields, then you might find a natural home in Corporate and Foundation Relations. A good way to learn the ropes is to begin as a grant writer, from there moving up to an assistant director position. Also, many development professionals already working in a "support" capacity -- doing prospect research, donor relations, or development communications; areas requiring good research and writing skills -- have broken into front-line fund raising via this route.
As we conclude our tour, I should mention that many other fund raisers reside throughout a university campus. Some professional schools (e.g. law, medicine, business, education) employ their own in-house development staffs, "decentralized" microcosms of the more expansive central efforts. These operations can be a great place to start, especially if you hold a relevant degree. If, for instance, you have an M.B.A. and want to raise money for a business school, you might have an inside track.
In any case, you should now have a better understanding of the various species found in the fund-raising habitat. You can match your own temperament and background accordingly and know what to expect from your prospective colleagues. Happy hunting.
