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Nonprofit professionals<\/span><\/a> and the organizations that depend on them understand the importance of investing in ongoing professional development. They know that not investing in such education can result in missing a beat or a donation\u2014or lots of them<\/b>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because the fundraising world\u2014indeed, the world in general\u2014is changing fast, especially when it comes to communications<\/b>. And what is fundraising but carefully crafted, targeted communications that move people\u2019s hearts and hands to support causes they believe in?<\/p>\n That\u2019s where ongoing professional development for fundraisers and nonprofit leaders<\/span><\/a> comes in<\/b>.<\/p>\n Jill Murphy, membership and post operations senior manager at the Society of American Military Engineers, listens to at least one podcast a week<\/b>\u2014and she\u2019s been in the fundraising sector for more years than she cares to think about. \u201cNever stop learning\u201d is her rallying cry<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cI constantly do professional development programs. This summer I earned a digital marketing certificate. It was a 10-week course and I learned a ton,\u201d said Murphy, who for seven years was the senior manager of member services for the DMA Nonprofit Federation. As such, she organized hundreds of professional development opportunities both online and in person for nonprofit leadership and fundraisers<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy feeling is if you’re not keeping up with what’s going on in marketing, then you’re going to be left behind with how quickly new technologies change the way we market as nonprofits,\u201d Murphy said, acknowledging that it\u2019s getting harder and harder to engage with donors and potential donors.<\/p>\n A recent project by NTEN and Cornerstone, \u201cThe State of Nonprofit Professional Development<\/a><\/span>,\u201d uncovered that \u201cnonprofit staff want to learn and grow in their jobs and careers and that they seek to pursue professional development even if it\u2019s not an official part of the expectations and evaluations in their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Lighthouse Counsel President Jeff Jowdy<\/span><\/a> and his staff produce regular career development resources<\/span><\/a> in the form of blog posts<\/span><\/a> and podcasts<\/span><\/a> because he knows how important it is for his clients and other nonprofit professionals to keep up<\/b>.<\/p>\n But, as you likely know, it\u2019s not always easy for harried executives and multi-tasking fundraisers to stop what they\u2019re doing and take a course<\/b> or pursue another time-consuming opportunity. That said, it\u2019s crucial to future success.<\/p>\n \u201cThings change rapidly in fundraising, and it’s really important for nonprofit leaders to stay on top of trends and strategies, as well as technology advancements, so that they’re doing everything they possibly can to create positive experiences for donors and other supporters,\u201d Jowdy said. \u201cAn organization that refuses to grow and adapt won’t stay healthy for long<\/b>.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no denying that the fundraising world is competitive; there are a lot of organizations vying for the same donor dollar<\/b>. Fundraisers who don\u2019t keep up will lose out, and then what happens to their noble causes and the people who depend on their help?<\/p>\n By investing in nonprofit professional development, you will:<\/p>\n Ruby Chadwick, head of global engagement and events for The Resource Alliance, knows that nonprofit professional development opportunities are an important and welcome part of a nonprofit professional\u2019s job<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see people coming together year after year, happy to reconnect and to make new connections,\u201d Chadwick said. \u201cLearning is about a free exchange of ideas among colleagues<\/b>. It\u2019s about communication and about commiserating, at times,\u201d she said. \u201cEven in a virtual environment, professional education sessions allow us to hear from our colleagues and to learn from them every bit as much as from the official speakers.\u201d<\/p>\n Amy Eisenstein, CEO and co-founder of the Capital Campaign Toolkit, and Adrian Sargeant, co-director at the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, conducted a study titled \u201cMajor Gift Fundraising: Unlocking the Potential for Your Nonprofit<\/a><\/span>*.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking at the findings, they bemoaned the fact that many nonprofits balk at investing in staff development<\/b> because they fear folks will just learn and leave, \u201cwasting\u201d the money the organization put into their professional development.<\/p>\n But that thinking is simply outdated and short-sighted. Keep reading to see why.<\/p>\n AfriKids<\/span><\/a>, a U.K. organization that fights for the rights of the world\u2019s children, sent staff members to a recent International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands. As a result, they funneled their learnings into a matching gift campaign<\/b> and raised more than five times the campaign\u2019s projected fundraising goal.<\/p>\n What the AfriKids fundraisers learned about donor stewardship and messaging, especially for a matching gift opportunity, completely changed their approach and resulted in a major fundraising win.<\/b><\/p>\n The campaign raised a total of roughly $735,000\u2014about $682,000 of which was matched by the government. The total at the end of the campaign was $1.4 million, five times more than what they were hoping to raise. They used the money to stress the value of education<\/b> to communities and improve teacher training in primary schools across Northern Ghana. In all, the training had a positive impact on 18,000 children and 350 teachers<\/b>.<\/p>\n Lighthouse Council\u2019s Jowdy said ongoing professional development for leaders is important as well, although their learning needs to be less in the weeds and more about the big picture<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt all trickles down from there,\u201d he said. \u201cA leader who has lost his desire to learn and remain relevant will lead teams right over the edge of mediocrity. And in today’s environment, mediocrity is just not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Giving USA, American individuals, bequests, foundations, and corporations gave an estimated $449.64 billion to U.S. charities in 2019, which was one of the highest years ever for charitable giving. The professionalization of fundraising was just one factor that helped build donor trust, which led to an increase in donations<\/b>.<\/p>\n Issues like transparency and accountability, impeccable stewardship, and, most compelling of late, equity and diversity are the cornerstones on which the foundation of the best and most successful nonprofits are built<\/b>. Donors are watching, and they\u2019re expecting their contributions to be put to the very best use\u2014and in the way you communicated you would use the donations when soliciting them in the first place.<\/p>\n One way to assure them you will do so is by hiring and continuing to employ professional and knowledgeable fundraisers<\/span><\/a>. This gives donors peace of mind and deepens the overall trust of the giving public in the organizations they support and the nonprofit sector in general.<\/p>\n Investing in ongoing nonprofit professional development is a win-win that keeps the individual professional on the cutting edge. This keeps organizations working efficiently and effectively\u2014and raising more money\u2014and helps to elevate the nonprofit sector and build trust in the eyes of the people who support it.<\/p>\n CharityHowTo<\/span><\/a> provides training of both the instantly-actionable type and overall strategies for long-term success for nonprofit leaders and fundraisers, no matter their organization\u2019s size, budget, or mission.<\/p>\n We produce both free<\/a><\/span> and premium<\/a><\/span> live and on-demand webinars that give our nonprofit community hundreds of opportunities each month to learn from the best-of-the-best nonprofit experts from around the world. They provide relevant, tactical advice around 29 of the most pressing nonprofit topics and show how you can turn those learnings into real results.<\/p>\n Consider investing in a CharityHowTo membership<\/a><\/span> as part of your goal to support ongoing professional development. For more information, visit charityhowto.com<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n \u00a0*Note: This project was partially sponsored by Bloomerang.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nonprofit professionals and the organizations that depend on them understand the importance of investing in ongoing professional development. They know that not investing in such education can result in missing a beat or a donation\u2014or lots of them. That\u2019s because the fundraising world\u2014indeed, the world in general\u2014is changing fast, especially when it comes to communications. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344,"featured_media":31426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"cause":[],"article_author":[],"webinar_host":[],"topic":[344,91],"class_list":["post-57676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-fundraising-general","topic-nonprofit-careers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy investing in ongoing professional development is so important\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Here are just a few key ways investing in ongoing professional education can keep you on top of your game.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Nonprofit professional development will take you out of your comfort zone\u2014and that\u2019s a good thing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Professional development isn\u2019t just for beginners. Leaders need to learn too.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Professional development helps you build donor trust.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Look into CharityHow, a unique continuing education resource.<\/strong><\/h2>\n