5 Reasons Continuing Education is Critical for Fundraising Professionals

As a fundraising professional, you are responsible for driving the success of your organization’s fundraising efforts.

Fundraising is a constantly evolving field, with new strategies and techniques emerging all the time. To stay at the top of your game, it’s important to invest in continuing education.

Continuing education can take many forms, including:

• attending conferences
• participating in workshops
• joining online webinars (like those from my capital campaign venture)
• pursuing certifications
• or simply staying up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices

Continuing ed is truly an investment that, over time, pays for itself many times over.

5 Reasons Fundraisers Should Pursue Continuing Education

Here are five reasons why continuing education is so important for your career, as well as your life.

1. To stay up-to-date on trends and best practices.

Like almost any profession, the field of fundraising is constantly evolving with new trends and best practices emerging all the time. By partaking in continuing education, you can stay up-to-date on the latest trends and strategies. This can help you stay ahead of the curve and identify new opportunities to improve your organization’s fundraising efforts.

2. To develop new fundraising skills and techniques.

Continuing education can also help you develop new skills and techniques that can make you a more effective fundraiser. By developing new skills, you can become a more valuable member of your organization’s fundraising team, as well as move up the career ladder.

For example, if you improve your major gift skills or lead a capital campaign, you will be more in-demand.

3. To build a stronger professional network.

Attending conferences and other educational events can also be a great way to build your professional network. You will have the opportunity to meet other fundraising professionals, share ideas and strategies, and build relationships that can help you throughout your career.

Building a strong network of mentors and peers can be invaluable because fundraising can be isolating, especially if you work in a small to mid-sized organization.

4. To demonstrate your commitment to the field.

By investing in your professional growth, you are demonstrating your commitment to your profession. This can be an important factor in advancing your career and taking on new leadership roles within your organization. Employers value employees who are committed to ongoing learning and development, and by investing in continuing education, you are positioning yourself for long-term professional success.

5. To adapt to changing donor preferences.

Donors are changing, and so too are their preferences for how they want to engage with nonprofits. By investing in continuing education, you can learn the latest trends in donor preferences and adapt your fundraising strategies accordingly.

A Continuing Ed Opportunity: Join Me in New Orleans

One of my favorite fundraising conferences is the AFP international conference (the 2023 conference is in New Orleans April 16-18th). By attending this one conference, you can learn from experts and mingle with peers from all over the world. It’s expensive, but there are scholarships available, and I promise it’s worth every penny.

If you’re going, I hope you’ll consider joining me for my pre-conference full-day workshop on how to prepare for a capital campaign. I’ve also got a breakout session during the main event.

Of course, AFP provides continuing education in-person, nationally and locally all year long, in addition to webinars and virtual deep dives.

Continuing Education: My Final Thoughts

Honestly, there’s no reason not to invest in continuing education of one type or another. A fantastic newish form of continuing education is a plethora of nonprofit and fundraising related podcasts. And they’re all completely free.

FYI — If you haven’t already heard, my podcast is called All About Capital Campaigns and can be found at the Capital Campaign Toolkit website (or wherever you stream your podcasts). Do yourself a favor and check it out, along with the many other nonprofit podcasts available. They provide a great way to stay current.

What nonprofit conferences do you regularly attend? Let me know in the comments.