On-the-fly learning

By Henry

While many of the best practices and principles I’ve learned over my career in fundraising were applicable, I came to realize that working with such an organization […] required different skills and knowledge that I had ever gleaned from my professional life.

When we were given the choice to pick the organization we wanted to work with for this field seminar, I made my decision based on where I thought I could be of most value. In this case, the organization that my team and I worked with asked if we could help them develop a comprehensive fundraising strategy and diversify their income streams.

At first, the project scope seemed to align directly with both my interests and professional experience in nonprofit fundraising. However, after our initial conversations with the client, it quickly became clear that this project would require a lot of on-the-fly learning.

Our client had immediate funding needs that proved to be very different from the nonprofits that I’ve worked for in the past, which had their own needs but typically had a strong infrastructure and earned revenue model in place already.

While many of the best practices and principles I’ve learned over my career in fundraising were applicable, I came to realize that working with such an organization – especially one that is operating in a considerably different governmental and societal context – required different skills and knowledge that I had ever gleaned from my professional life.

During the scoping and research process, we learned about Brazil’s culture and the landscape that nonprofit organizations face in their particular context. We faced challenges in defining and negotiating the scope to align with the constraints of the semester and our team’s collective expertise, because the client sought as much help as they could get. We also had to face and resolve communications challenges that were exacerbated by only being able to connect remotely.

As we put the final touches on our report, I’m hopeful that our client will be able to immediately leverage the recommendations we are providing them. They have an incredibly motivated team and a demonstrated need for their work, which serves as an inspiration for my continued career in nonprofits.

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