I was just reading through the recent posts from John and Rob regarding the “what?” and the “why?” of Advancement Services. It strikes me that the evolution of Advancement Services over the years and the talented and dedicated individuals the profession has attracted are inextricably linked. Which came first? The chicken or the egg? The professionals or the profession?
Within our own Advancement Services department at The Nature Conservancy, we’ve recently gone through an exercise to articulate the various competencies required to do our jobs. As at many other non-profits and educational institutions, Advancement Services at the Conservancy is made up of a broad variety of teams that help our fundraisers bring in support for our mission: research, gift recording, data analysis, database support, prospect management. Yet across those teams with their widely varying day-to-day tasks and goals, we were able to draft descriptions of six shared competencies that are essential (at varying levels, of course) to being successful in our roles. I’d be willing to bet that most, if not all of these will strike a chord for you as well:
(1) Analysis and problem solving – able to identify and define problems and solutions
(2) Technical learning – ability to learn new tools and apply them to one’s work in order to improve efficiency
(3) Strategic use of technical solutions – Understands how and when to apply technical solutions (software systems or other tools) in order to help solve problems and improve quality and/or efficiency
(4) Fundraising systems expertise – knows how individual aspects of the fundraising system relate to and affect others; is able to apply knowledge of the system to new business needs.
(5) Advanced understanding of the philanthropic sector – Understands trends in fundraising and philanthropy; exhibits knowledge of a broad array of fundraising practices and procedures and has the ability to apply appropriate fundraising strategies to Advancement Services projects.
(6) Client Service – dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external clients; acts with clients in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with clients and gains their trust and respect.
Now there are other, more specialized, skills and expertise that individual teams within Advancement Services have identified as keys to high achievement, but the six above crossed all aspects of the department. I’d argue that these may well be the very competencies that built the field of Advancement Services. And these are the competencies that Advancement Services professionals hold dear – and that ultimately attracted us to the field, whether or not we intended to end up here.