Is Fundraising A Profession?

At a recent fundraising conference I attended there was a very interesting session featuring a panel discussion that focused on a recent survey from CompassPoint, Underdeveloped.

This survey shows some trends that point towards the transient nature of the fund development field with results like a large portion on fundraisers expect that they will have left not only their position within 2 years but expect to have left the field entirely to pursue some other career. (See “Lifetime of Career Changes” – Carl Bailik of the Wall Street Journal)

There was a lot of discussion as to why this may be, but eventually the question arose, “Is Fundraising a Profession?“.

If you ask me it’s not.

Now I should be clear, they didn’t ask me, but I hold true that fundraising is not really a profession.

The argument was raised that a profession has things like a body of knowledge, a certifying body (AFP), an accreditation (CFRE, and ACFRE). I would agree that these things bring fundraising closer to a profession but I would point out that there are problems with how these elements have been laid out.

In my mind the qualification of requiring accreditation means that you must be accredited before you are allowed to practice. You would never find a practicing lawyer that has not passed their bar exam (well, hopefully not). Similarly with accountants, one can not practice as an accountant without their C.A. designation (or similar). It’s true in both of these fields that there are levels below full accreditation like accounting technician, book keeper, paralegal, legal assistant to name a few, but in most cases the work must be signed off by someone holding a designation.

This is not the case in fundraising. There are no requirements that someone hold a CFRE before they are allowed to accept a $1,000,000 donation. In fact, the qualifications of the CFRE require that a fundraiser has worked in the field and raised a certain amount of money unaccredited. It seems to me that this would be the equivalent of requiring a lawyer to have won a number of cases before they may pass the bar. Or asking a realtor to have sold a number of houses before they become licensed.

Instead of a full on accreditation, the CFRE seems to function more as bragging rights and the membership card to a type of ‘old boys club’. From what I know in Calgary the vast majority of CFRE holder aren’t actually practicing fundraisers, instead most seem to have moved away from the day to day tasks of fundraising and instead chosen to work as consultants to the nonprofit field.

Now, to be fair, the current laws in Canada and Alberta restrict how a fundraising may follow the model of other professions. For example, in the field of law there exists a law firm. A company who’s purpose is to provide legal services. Current laws restrict the creation of a fundraising firm that could be hired by nonprofits to raise fund for them as a third party. The law prohibits third party fundraising in that nature which in a way forces those senior members of the Calgary fundraising community into a consulting role as opposed to the senior levels of a partnership or corporation.

Is fundraising a vocation. I would say yes, but an profession? I believe there is still some ground to cover before it can claim that standard.