Nonprofit Adviser

Paul Vernon

Fundraising is an important part of the job for most nonprofit leaders, and even in rare cases where it is not, experts say fundraising experience shapes stronger leaders.

My colleague Jie Jenny Zou recently interviewed Matt vandenBerg, president of Ohio Wesleyan University. “I use all the skills I have developed as an advancement professional every single day in this role,” he says. Fundraising helped vandenBerg hone his financial acumen, build coalitions, become resilient, and work well under pressure, he says.

Jenny spoke to several experts to learn why so many leaders feel fundraising experience increases a leader’s chances for success. As Jenny writes, “fundraisers ... tend to have ample experience working diplomatically as part of a team and meeting tight deadlines — two skills that many say are fundamental to being an effective leader.” Plus, being at the helm of a nonprofit usually requires “frequent interactions with prospective donors as well as meeting big funding goals,” she explains.

Aspen Leadership Group’s Don Hasseltine says fundraising ranks among the top three skills his firm looks for when recruiting job candidates for senior executive positions.

“When you think about expectations on an executive director or CEO of a nonprofit, a vast majority of their responsibility is generating enough revenue for them to function year to year,” Hasseltine says.

To learn more about how fundraising experience benefits nonprofit executives, read Looking to Lead? Try Your Hand at Fundraising First and check out the Executive Leadership section of Advice.

Regards
Maria Di Mento
Senior Reporter

If a proposal isn’t successful, ask the program officer why. Answers to that question can help you prepare a stronger one the next time. For example, the Center for Nonprofit Advancement learned through debriefs that grant makers wanted budgets with greater detail. The center began adding descriptions of what budgets would accomplish along with explanatory footnotes for certain line items on all of its proposals. For more grant-seeking tips, read 5 Ways to Make the Case for General-Operating Support, and for guidance on writing stronger proposals, consider joining our November webinar, How to Wow Grant Makers With Your Next Proposal.

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Women’s Health: Action for Women’s Health is a $250 million global open call launched by Pivotal that will fund organizations around the world working to improve women’s mental and physical health. Flexible funding between $1 million and $5 million will be awarded to an array of organizations—of diverse geographies, sizes, perspectives, and approaches — united by their work to improve the mental and physical health of women. Grants range from $1 million to $5 million; deadlines are December 3 for registrations, and January 10, 2025, for applications.

Youth Sports: The mission of All Kids Play is to increase quality youth sports participation in the United States by providing financial assistance to families and communities that lack sufficient resources and provide education on safe and healthy sports-related play. All Kids Play’s Youth Sports Grants for organizations support nonprofit organizations, school sports programs, or government-run programs (i.e. community park districts) in low-income communities that provide community-based recreational level sports for kids in grades K-12. Grants for individuals are also provided.