How To Be A Good Charity Fundraiser

Gone are the days when a career in fundraising was thought to be a temporary profile or stopgap arrangement before the next attractive job beckoned. India is estimated to have over 2 million NGOs and the numbers are growing with each passing year. With such a heavy concentration of non-profits along with the rise of an upwardly mobile workforce of potential donors, fundraising is a serious career choice in itself these days. A good charity fundraiser knows this and is aware of the impact their job has in alleviating many of the world’s social and environmental issues.

If you’ve decided on this fulfilling job, congratulations! Here are some tips that detail how to be a good charity fundraiser:

• Dedication

Fundraising is a kind of marketing activity which seeks members of the public to subscribe to an idea and contribute financially to realise it. Your NGO is not selling a tangible product but a service for the greater human good. A good charity fundraiser is dedicated and personally believes in the cause he/she is promoting, whether that is global warming or making education accessible to the underprivileged. Of course, individual fundraising targets are important but your charity’s cause must hold priority, even if it means raising awareness among laymen in the street.

• Communication Skills

Professional fundraising involves spreading the word about your non-profit’s cause. As such, excellent verbal and written communication skills are absolutely essential to be a good charity fundraiser. Fundraising professionals also have good presentation skills that are often employed while working the streets. Confident body language, an ability to persuade, having a positive outlook despite rejection, being a good listener and perfect conversational skills are the hallmarks of a good charity fundraiser.

• Research and Management Skills

Good charity fundraisers are involved in their work, which means that they’re constantly sourcing information from other non-profits, peers and colleagues to refine set processes and better their professional skills. The ability to innovate and offer better solutions while pitching to a prospect is a huge advantage. Fundraisers often work in teams, so it’s wonderful if you have the required people skills to motivate and inspire your colleagues as well.

• Integrity

A large chunk of funding for non-profits usually comes from individual donors, converted on the street by fundraising professionals. Since the job involves handling sensitive financial data and private details, a good charity fundraiser absolutely needs to maintain the integrity and have a high standard of ethics. Integrity may seem to be an inborn quality but reading about ethical practices and donor rights can help you develop into a good charity fundraiser.