Fund Raiser or Resource Developer
To raise the
necessary support, in cash or in kind, to promote urban forestry
programs and expand giving opportunities for an organization.
When it comes to expanding the urban forest, the best intentions and
most brilliant concepts are futile without the resources necessary to
carry them to fruition. Those working in fund raising and resource
development play a critical role in helping urban forestry programs
meet their goals.
As director of organizational advancement with Trees Forever in Iowa,
Penny Brown helps secure resources by working witth annual membership
programs corporations and foundations, endowment and capital campaigns
and the government, along with the board of the nonprofit urban
forestry group.
Management, marketing and technology skills are all vital components of
raising and tracking funds. Most resource developers have a four-year
degree and many working in the upper ranks of fundraising have obtained
master's degrees.
"There are long hours and a lot of demands on your time," Brown said.
"You need to juggle a lot of tasks and keep them on track. If you like
change, this is a great field."
Opportunities in the field exist, both part-time and full-time, and a high turnover rate eases entry into the field.
Fund raising often requires the same skills found in sales -- the
ability to connect with people and inspire them to buy into urban
forestry, whether it means donating time or money, or other resources
to the effort.
"I think of my role as friend raising, rather than fund raising," Brown
said. "I love talking about a project that I know is going to make a
difference and watching people get excited and when I ask for money
they get excited."
Bonnie Moore, executive director of the Mayor's Beautification Project
in Tampa, Florida agrees that people skills are critical to success in
fundraising.
"We believe in people to people," Moore said. "All of the fundraising
that the project does is through personal relations and networking,
people to people."
"People give money to people, not to organizations or projects," Moore said.
Salaries begin in the mid-$30,000's
and can rise to six figures with increased fund raising responsibility
and size of the organization.
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