THE PROFESSIONAL
The Resource Pickup/Mobilizer
Funding, as we understand it, is an area that only exists in the so-called “third sector”. Originating from what in English is called a “fundraiser”, or “fund raiser”, the fundraiser is the professional responsible for guaranteeing the sustainability of organizations, precisely because he works to guarantee their revenues, the your donations.
If in a company we have the commercial sector, and in the public administration we have the treasury area, responsible for collecting taxes, non-profit private organizations rely on fundraising to finance themselves.
Thus, fundraising is an exclusive competence of civil society organizations, and to be successful in it, it is essential to have well-prepared and qualified professionals to effectively obtain resources.
It is the fundraiser, together with the management of the non-governmental organization (NGO), who will lead the resource mobilization planning process and its implementation. It is he (or she) who will have a general view of the organization, knowing its cause and projects, and knowing what to propose to leverage revenues and ensure the sustainability of the NGO's structure and activities.
At the same time, it is the fundraiser who will also need to have a specialist view, knowing how to work, depending on their role in the organization, with donations from individuals, families, inheritances, companies, governments, through edits, etc.
For this reason, training is essential for this professional and an investment obligation for all organizations. There is no “fundraising faculty”, and all technical qualification opportunities offered to these professionals must be taken advantage of.
Combining practice with theory, we have better fundraisers (or resource mobilizers, or institutional development professionals), and organizations prepared to remain active for years and years, fulfilling their reason for existing and transforming Brazil in a country that is more humane and fair to its people. And that, of course, is what we seek.
Text by João Paulo Vergueiro, executive director of ABCR – Brazilian Association of Fundraisers, administrator, master in administration and professor at FECAP. (originally published on this page on April 6, 2013)