It was evident in my conversation with Liz Schriner, a Major Gifts Officer at Franciscan University of Steubenville, that she has found fundraising to be fulfilling work on a practical level as well as on a deep, spiritual level. As our listeners will discover, her passion for fundraising evolves from her faith which allows her to be thoughtful and deliberate about her work.
For much of our conversation, we contemplated what could be expected of a newcomer in the field versus what we have come to expect of someone with experience. We also made observations about what a newcomer is likely to learn in the field directly with donors as compared to training seminar.
In this conversation, we discussed:
- The experience of fundraising often occurs on a transactional level, a relationship level and a spiritual level.
- The job of a fundraiser requires a great deal of sophistication, transparency, and emotional intelligence.
- Employers have to give fundraising professionals permission to be forthright about their lack of experience in awkward or less than familiar scenarios.
- Fundraising affords us an opportunity to create massive impact and to play a critical role in how we do fantastic things in the world.
For those who would like to connect with Liz, she can be found on LinkedIn.