After being totally inspired by the charity I now work for to start a career in the third sector, I came to be a CIOF member as a completely blank page.
Having had no previous experience or training in fundraising, my CEO was keen for me to not only learn on the job, but was keen to invest in my understanding, confidence, and abilities, so I looked into courses available within the CIOF that would be suitable for someone like me.
When I read about the Certificate in Fundraising course, truth be told, I was apprehensive. Advising I should have at least a year’s experience of the sector, and be confident in at least one area of fundraising, I was sincerely neither of these.
But because of the genuine quality of the course, the comfortable pace at which you learn, the support given, and the enjoyable and informative content studied and written about in each segment, the feeling I had of being out of my depth or an imposter soon faded.
The course was massively eye opening to a novice fundraiser like me. It sparked so many ideas, so many conversations, whilst professionalising, streamlining, and improving the work I was doing day to day, and within weeks of being on the course, I was already introducing new processes to the charity, and two years on, these processes are still in place because of the value or importance they added.
If you are starting out in this beautiful sector or perhaps a year or so in, looking to build your confidence as a fundraiser, or are looking to learn methods, strategies, techniques, and processes that will help you grow into your role and improve standards and services of the charity you work for, then I am delighted to whole heartedly recommend this course to you.
It goes beyond value for money- yes, it’s a financial investment to be considered, especially if you are a smaller charity, but I firmly believe the return on investment will start before the course is even finished!