Home Library Translate
A A A
Share »
Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect »

Blog: Fundraising for Nonprofits

Menu

  • This Blog's Home
  • Guest Writer Submissions
  • Policies
  • To Subscribe to a Blog
  • About
  • Feedback

Is the CFRE Credential Worth the Time and Money?

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on May 17, 2011

That question was asked on one of the listserves where I am (usually) just a lurker, but was one I felt moved to answer. What I said was that….

I’ve been a fundraising consultant for well over 30 years, and I obtained my CFRE when the program was relatively new – back in the early ‘80s. I maintained my certification for twenty years, and (for the most part) found the initial process and the required ongoing-recertification to be worthwhile.

The CFRE is a basic certification. It says that the person who has worked for and earned the designation has a minimum of five years in the field and has an understanding of the fundraising/development basics.

But that’s it !! Where having the certification “says” that a person has knowledge of the basics in fundraising, the certificate alone does not say anything about an individual’s skills or ability to use the knowledge.

The field of fundraising is fairly broad, and most people who enter the field have little knowledge/understanding of what all of the elements are and how they relate to and support each other.

So, my response to the question is: If someone plans on staying in the field, it would be to their advantage (and to the advantage of any non-profit that might hire them) to be serious about their education, to discover what it is that they didn’t know they didn’t know and learn to take seriously this field we work in.

The certification process organizes the various elements, relates them to each other and presents them in a way that is relatively easy to grasp. In that context, I believe it is worth the time and cost of pursuing the certification … whether or not you maintain the certification over the long term.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll likely be able to answer your questions.

« Previous Next »

Search Our Site

Meet the Blog’s Host

Hank Lewis with Development Consultant Associates has over thirty years as a fundraising consultant and is a specialist in Board and Leadership Development, Capital Campaign, Bequest Program and Major Gifts. [Read more ...]

Recent Blog Posts

  • Show Me … Don’t Tell Me: Say It With Video
  • Video – An Often Overlooked Development Tool
  • Using Video in the Development Process … And Increasing Dollars
  • Corporation Solicitation Programs: Not For Every Nonprofit
  • The Gift Table: An Essential Fundraising Tool
  • The Planning Study: Implementation
  • The Planning Study: Conceptualizing & Preparing
  • Leadership: The Key to a Successful Major Gifts Program
  • Ensuring The Future of Your Nonprofit: Major Gifts Are The Way
  • Top Ten “Rules” of Fundraising

Categories of Posts

  • Accounting For Fundraising
  • Basics and Overviews
  • Board and Fundraising
  • Fundraising & Social Media
  • Fundraising Basics: Concepts & Philosophy
  • Fundraising: Beyond The Basics
  • Fundraising: Capital Campaigns
  • Fundraising: Consultants
  • Fundraising: Corporate
  • Fundraising: Database/Software
  • Fundraising: Direct Response
  • Fundraising: Grants
  • Fundraising: Hiring Development Staff
  • Fundraising: Major Gifts
  • Fundraising: Millennials In Development
  • Fundraising: Planned Giving
  • Fundraising: Planning
  • Fundraising: Special Events
  • Fundraising: The Combined Federal Campaign
  • Uncategorized

Related Library Topics

  • Boards of Directors
  • Capacity Building
  • Consultants (Using)
  • Executive Director Role
  • Financial Management
  • Fundraising and Grantwriting
  • Marketing
  • Program Evaluation
  • Program Management
  • Social Enterprise
  • Staffing
  • Starting Nonprofits
  • Strategic Planning
  • Taxation
  • Volunteers

Library's Blogs

  • Boards of Directors
  • Building a Business
  • Business Communications
  • Business Ethics, Culture and Performance
  • Business Planning
  • Career Management
  • Coaching and Action Learning
  • Consulting and Organizational Development
  • Crisis Management
  • Customer Service
  • Facilitation
  • Free Management Library Blogs
  • Fundraising for Nonprofits
  • Human Resources
  • Leadership
  • Marketing and Social Media
  • Nonprofit Capacity Building
  • Project Management
  • Quality Management
  • Social Enterprise
  • Spirituality
  • Strategic Planning
  • Supervision
  • Team Building and Performance
  • Training and Development
About Feedback Legal Privacy Policy Contact Us
Free Management Library, © Copyright Authenticity Consulting, LLC ®; All rights reserved.
  • Graphics by Wylde Hare LLC
  • Website maintained by Caitlin Cahill

By continuing to use this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.X