Fund-raising success creates program

By Ayreen Calimquim, Special to the Online Forty-Niner

Wednesday, November 18, 1998

Due to Cal State Long Beach's success in fund-raising efforts, the University College and Extension Services has created a certificate program designed to provide hands-on training for fund raising and marketing professionals in nonprofit and public sector organizations.

Titled the Nonprofit and Public Organization Marketing and Fundraising Certificate Program, it will emphasize marketing and communication skills, with an emphasis on the fund-raising process.

Students will learn the basic marketing principles of how to find philanthropic organizations or individuals, how to get them to donate to an organization, and how to keep them as a part of the organization, said Delona Davis, director of the American Institute for Philanthropic Studies.

"With the ever-increasing competition for philanthropic dollars, professional fund-raising practitioners need to stay abreast of the most efficient marketing and fund-raising techniques and strategies," said Edward N. Lewis, program coordinator and lead instructor for the certificate program.

The certificate program was created by professionals who work in the field of fund raising and marketing and will be taught by them also.

Scheduled to begin in the spring semester of 1999, the major requirements to complete the certificate consists of mandatory attendance to all six modules that take place every other Saturday between March 13 and May 22, Davis said.

Students will also be required to develop a comprehensive marketing plan for a nonprofit or public organization as a final assignment.

Individuals who complete all six modules will be awarded a certificate acknowledging them as specialists in Nonprofit and Public Organization Marketing and Fundraising, Davis said.

"We are not only providing hands-on learning opportunities to the nonprofit professional, but we are also recognizing the marketing and fund-raising needs of the public sector," said Dr. Robert Behm, dean of the University College and Extension Services. "Public sector needs include raising funds for parks, beaches, historical sites, and mountain and desert wildlife reserves, where public financing has been cut back or eliminated altogether."

"Fund raising for non-profit and public organizations is a growing field. Having great communication skills is the foundation for success. But students need experience and job-training skills to keep on succeeding," said Jerry Mandel, president of the Orange County Performing Arts Center and member of the advisory board who assisted in the creation of the program.