Fundraising rated A as job of the future

Fundraising has again been ranked among the best careers by U.S. News and World Report, receiving a grade of “A” in all categories including prestige and job market outlook, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals - www.afpnet.org.

The report also gave fundraising an “A” in job satisfaction and training difficulty. You can send AFP feedback on the ratings and the description the article via this email ewire@afpnet.org. They will compile the responses for a future issue.

Click here to read the U.S. News and World Report fundraising job report. You can also post comments there.. The “report card” for all 30 top careers of 2009 can be found here.

Here's the best part of the job description to me; "The best development professionals naturally inspire trust."

To me that is the most important part of the job. As a trainer, I always teach the techniques of making personal connections, building relationships and getting to the trust level. It may or not come naturally, but it certainly can be learned and practiced in a very sincere manner.

One of the problems in the future of this industry is that many young people are placed in these development jobs and have little or no training on how to approach a donor. With their youth, they tell me they feel handicapped! This lack of training is a challenge for our industry since job satisfaction goes a long way in recruiting and keeping good young people.