In last month's column, I posed the question, "Should I become a certified fund-raising executive?" and examined what pursuing that voluntary credential entails. I also promised to discuss the issue with colleagues and reveal their collective insights. Here, I keep my promise.
Not surprisingly, the people most eager to talk were those who held the credential, which is called a CFRE and is awarded by an organization called CFRE International. But I also spoke with a few seasoned fund raisers who don't have CFRE certification and hold strong opposing views.
For the record, I approached the conversations and the issue from a neutral stance, harboring no preferences either way. I simply wanted to shed light on the topic and, in the process, decide for myself whether to pursue the credential.
Let's start with the most basic question: Why do fund raisers become CFRE's? Most don't. By one estimate, only 4,000 of the 25,000 members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals hold the credential. Of those who do, many of the ones I spoke to said they attained it for personal as well as professional reasons.
"For me, the biggest advantage is personal satisfaction," says Sharon Ammons, director of annual giving at the University of Memphis. She has worked in development for 10 years and became a certified fund-raising executive more than a year ago. "I wanted to challenge myself and show that I have a good, basic knowledge of my field."
Likewise, Jeff McLain, associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement at Texas Tech University, says a boss encouraged him, 18 years into his career, to pursue the CFRE designation. "I did this as a way of stating that I'm committed to my career," says McLain, who's in the midst of recertification, which is required every three years. His institution covers the cost of credentialing; some colleges require fund raisers to pay their own way.
Kwi Brennan, senior director of annual giving at the Rutgers University Foundation, applied for the credential as soon as he was eligible. He thinks he is one of only two people on the foundation's 150-person development staff to hold the credential. "I think that any type of certification gives you instant credibility," he says. "When people know you have it, they automatically look at you differently."
James Graham hopes so. Molloy College's annual-fund director plans to take the CFRE exam this summer. If he becomes a CFRE, he'll be the only one on the college's staff. "I don't have a master's degree yet," Graham says, "so I figured this is another good line on the résumé. It's a conversation starter, if nothing else."
Graham also believes the credential might give him an advantage in the development job market. "I assume it'll give me a little edge," he says, "but I'm not sure."
Administrators with the credential offer mixed opinions about its marketplace value.
"Maybe it was my imagination," says Utah State University's Kent Clark, "but I think I got more callbacks and more interviews post-CFRE than before." Clark, director of development for libraries and instructional support, earned the credential as a way to gain credibility as he moved from working for social-service organizations to higher education. "I felt I needed something to help me get my foot in the door," he says.
Gary Montgomery, who has had the credential for 12 years, is more emphatic. "The CFRE makes a difference in how much you can earn," says Montgomery, who is the major-gifts officer at the College of Education at California State University at Sacramento. "It makes you more marketable, and more and more organizations are beginning to require or prefer it."
That may be true, though ads stating such a preference are still fairly rare, and I can count on one hand how many I've seen that required it. But would these fund raisers give extra consideration to CFRE's applying for jobs at their own institutions?
"If I'm looking at résumés and someone has a CFRE, that catches my eye," says McLain of Texas Tech, though he's quick to add that having the designation hasn't translated into a raise or job promotion for him yet.
D. Mark Helmus, senior director of development for gift planning at Butler University, says he wouldn't hire someone just because the candidate had the credential, but says the designation would "distinguish that person from other candidates."
Ammons, of Memphis, concurs. "If everything else is equal," she says, "I'd probably make an offer to the CFRE."
Not Brennan, even though he has the credential. "I'd look at experience first," he says. "I want to see accomplishments. Because anyone can get this."
OK, so it may or may not make a difference on the job market. But does the CFRE matter to donors? Some fund raisers think so.
"Within this climate of mistrust and uncertainty among donors," Montgomery says, "having that designation is very reassuring for people. It tells them you subscribe to a code of ethics and certain standards of practice. That reassures donors and they tend to open up a little bit more."
Words like "trust" and "credibility" and "commitment" peppered my conversations with CFRE's. Their experiences suggest that the credential inspires a degree of confidence among donors that might otherwise be lacking. If nothing else, they say, the label tells donors that these fund raisers are serious about their profession and dedicated to the institutions they serve.
Others aren't so sure.
"I'm not certain it means much to donors," says Don Cawrse, senior vice president at Ketchum, Inc., a fund-raising consulting firm. "It has more value among peers."
Cawrse points out that many consultants become certified fund raisers to gain credibility (there's that word again) with potential clients. Ketchum, in fact, urges all of its consultants to pursue the credential in the first year of their employment. The firm has maintained this policy for about eight years.
Still others are even less certain.
Ken Healy, vice president for advancement at the State University of New York's Maritime College, has been a fund raiser for 20 years. With that much experience and two master's degrees to his credit, he has no plans to become a CFRE.
"I would never discourage anyone from doing it," Healy says, "but I never really saw any particular advantage. Much of its strength appears to be networking and professional growth, but I'm not sure one needs to be 'certified' to take advantage of that."
Steven Nicolet, Florida International University's director of annual giving, is a bit more blunt.
"It seems like a big money-making machine," he says. "And it doesn't mean you're a great fund raiser. I think its importance has been blown out of proportion."
So, where does all of this back and forth leave me? I already have a doctorate, and while I acknowledge that learning never stops, I also believe in credential overkill. If I didn't have an advanced degree, then perhaps I'd consider the CFRE as a temporary alternative.
At this point in my career, however, I'm not sure what it would afford me. Stronger market value? More money? More respect? Maybe, but nobody has convinced me that it confers any of that.
For now, anyway, I'll stick with what I have and suffer the consequences. If ever the day comes when fund raisers must seek mandatory licensure, then it'll be time to, as we New Englanders say, cowboy up.
Or move on.
