The responsibility of the fund raiser starts with assessment of the funds needed for a specific purpose to subsequently work out a collection strategy. All this must be supported with viable presentation of facts to motivate the donors, both the corporate donors and the individuals.
Basic qualification asked for school fundraising jobs is graduation, preferably in Communication and Public Relations, with minimum of a couple of years of experience in fund raising activity. There is an internship in fundraising activity available with some charitable organizations, about which the college counselors may be consulted. The larger the experience the better the expected results obtained by a fund raiser that will help in already having the list of people or the companies to be approached as well as possibly already establishing personal contacts. One should also try for an affiliation with the National Society of Fundraising Executives.
The school fundraiser should first of all familiarize with the community he or she is going to work with. The incumbent should be prepared for long hours of waiting patience and also have tenacity to handle different kind of reactions from the people. Some will readily like to donate while others will need serious persuasion, and still others may turn a blind eye. This is the reason that the communication and PR skill of the individual has to be very good.
Auctioning of crafts made by the students is a popular and very much supported event for fund raising. The normal venue is the school auditorium and the event is arranged on a holiday at a convenient time to let there be larger participation by the parents and other people in the community. It is better to make a list for sending out appropriately worded invitations. As a fore preparation a list of items is suggested to be prepared under proper grouping to follow with price fixation and appropriate call price labeling thereafter. Giving a token gift along with the auctioned handicraft is also a popular way of promotion. Finally the display arrangement is made to expose the pieces in a most appealing way.
The newer and poplar way of fundraising is seen in organizing a sport or athletes meet, which could even be on an inter-school basis. This approach is found to be more willingly sponsored by the corporate entities with a view of promoting their business activities or even to establish their identity with the particular community they exist in. The fundraising executive will have to work out the amount of funds which are needed by the school and then discuss the proposal with the sponsoring organization.
The average salary of a fundraising executive is in the range of 40 to 45 thousand dollars per year, but it all depends upon individual institutions. Nowadays school Fundraisers are also offered to work on commission basis and the idea is getting popular due to more earning potentials.
