Anyone work in non profit/fundraising?

[wendmatt]

DH wants to apply for a job with a non profit as a fundraiser, but has no experience. Is it something he could learn fast or do you need the 5 years experience they are asking for? I remember Katie worked in non profit but I don't see her on the board nowadays.
Any thoughts?

[smiles33]

If he has no experience at all, I doubt he'd get the interview unless it's a very poor applicant pool. Fundraising is an important role at every nonprofit organization and I doubt they would interview, let alone hire, someone for a senior fundraising role who lacks the required 5 years of experience. Sometimes they specify a minimum 5 years' experience required in the job announcement but then receive applications from folks with 8-10 years of experience (that's happened several times in my last few hires because of the poor economy and very strong applicant pool of under-employed and unemployed people).

It would be different if it was merely a fundraising assistant position that requires 0-2 years of experience. Your DH might argue then that his other professional experience (project management? database management? community relations experience? event planning?) is relevant and can replace the lack of any fundraising experience.

In the meantime, if he is eager to be a fundraiser (and has a paying job now), he should try to volunteer with some organization/group to acquire and demonstrate his fundraising capacity (e.g., help organize a charity auction, help coordinate a fundraiser dinner, help run the school PTC fundraiser, etc.).

HTH.

[kdeunc]

I agree with smiles33. If they are asking for 5 years experience I think he would probably need it to get an interview. An exception to that might be if he has sales experience. Fundraising is difficult and a key position in a nonprofit. I will also add that with many nonprofits compensation is low. Not in all of course but in my experience some of the national nonprofits pay rather small salaries. Best of luck to him!

[almostmom]

Ugh - just wrote a long post and then deleted it. So this will be brief!
I am in the non-profit fundraising world. I got in it in 2005. I had no experience, but I had been in the field of the non-profit (and worked for non-profits) my whole career. I was able to sell my skills, my passion, my enthusiasm, to 2 orgs that offered me jobs. Good fundraisers can be hard to find (especially because the pay can be low, but often the highest paid people at the non-profit), so if he can show he is a people person, not afraid to pick up the phone, has project management skills, event planning skills, writing skills, a passion for the mission, etc. these will all help. Connections through colleagues/family are huge - it may be hard to get in, but informational interviews are a great way to talk to folks at non-profits.
Getting on a board or 2 is helpful, writing a grant, helping out with an event, any of these things are good to say he has done.
In this job market, it is hard to compete with people with experience. But a mature and enthusiastic person with demonstrated skills to get a job done is appealing. It really will depend on the organization. One that doesn't pay great may have less options and be more willing to hire someone with less direct experience.

[wendmatt]

Thank you so much for the replies. We both thought he might not get an interview due to lack of experience as you said, but then I read almostmom's post and I think that is what he's hoping for. The pay is very low for the job they are asking (executive level position, 2 or 3 jobs rolled into one), and he's gregarious so was hoping he might be able to talk his way into it as he knows someone there! He is passionate about the mission (animal rescue). I guess we'll wait and see but not hold our breath. Thanks for the suggestions.