Hey Interns, is your Summer within reach – what’s beyond that?
By Sherry Bell, Chief Executive Officer, Grow Fundraising & Consulting, Inc and Interim Executive Director, PFFA
The National Association of Colleges and Employers highlight these data bites for what student and employers think is the most important attribute for students to have or develop and communication skills as the most important competency. (Collins, 2022)
When it comes to understanding the importance of communication, employers and students are on the same page.
Unfortunately, when employers and students are asked how they would rank students as very/extremely proficient in communication, the responses are not as aligned. If communication skills are of the utmost importance for a future employer and it is also the area where students tend to overstate their competency, there could be an opportunity to reinforce those skills with an internship that will focus first and foremost on that skill.
How do you gain experience when you have none?
Securing and completing a valuable internship provides students and those looking to transition their careers into other spaces the opportunity to gain valuable experience, secure needed professional references in future job searches, and receive compensation and or credits for your work. In the case of our members, you receive the added benefit of contributing to the overall efforts by your employer and their team to bring about real and tangible change for causes ranging from animal protection and welfare, environmental and conservation efforts, social justice objectives, refugees and other displaced persons, children, education and health-related causes. You will need professional references to land a great career choice role in the future and you will need genuine work experience to compete in the interview process. Face-to-face fundraising has an entry-level opportunity that is perfect for those trying to gain experience, professional job references, and takeaways tangible communication skills.
What is the F2F fundraising?
Face-to-face fundraising is the act of professionally trained fundraisers engaging members of the public on high streets, public transit hubs, community events, concerts, festivals, sporting events, airports, shopping malls, retail entryways, and at their homes via door-to-door campaigning with the goal of securing an ongoing financial commitment - typically monthly, quarterly or annually – for a nonprofit organization. This involves a conversation between the fundraiser and the member of the public that will most often include information about the nonprofit and how they work to address important issues through their mission-related work.
If the conversation continues, it is to answer questions and provide different opportunities of programs for which the member of the public might sign-up to join a community working to overcome the important issues initially presented by the fundraiser. These issues can include hunger, children’s rights, and protection, women’s reproductive health, animal protection, and welfare, environmental priorities, conservation, social justice, and physical and mental health topics, to name a few.
What is not F2F fundraising?
The definition of face-to-face fundraising is different from that of canvassing. They are sometimes used erroneously as interchangeable. Canvassing can be defined as, “the act or process of soliciting votes, subscriptions, opinions, etc., especially from individuals” (Dictionary.com, 2023). Further, when searching for synonyms, you will find canvassing most comparable to barnstorming, polling, and voting (Thesarus.com, 2023), and as you review further, you will find that canvassing is solely and directly associated with campaigning, politicking, and petitioning. Canvassing is not the same as fundraising. Although canvassing can contain a financial aspect, it is a secondary ask to the primary, it is not a measure of campaign success and it is often a one-time gift and not a recurring pledges donation. In F2F fundraising, there is a primary recurring ask of the member of the public and the secondary ask is typically around communication preferences and opt-ins/outs.
Which skills should interns gain from an internship?
Using FastWeb’ s 15 Top Skills Every Student Intern Should Have (Eilers, 2022) as our checklist in column 1 below, here are the things every intern should take into their internship or leave with after completing it. How does an internship in F2F fundraising stack up and which skills and attributes will you develop most (column 2 below)?
Interview with former F2F Fundraising & Marketing Intern
We have the interview Q&A of a former face-to-face fundraising and marketing intern to provide some valuable insight into what you might expect from a Summer Internship in F2F fundraising! Please meet, Ally de la Cuesta.
Ally de la Cuesta, former F2F Fundraising & Marketing Intern, current manager for global entertainment brand.
In 2018, Ally was hired as a F2F Fundraising & Marketing intern at Grow Fundraising & Consulting working on the Save the Children campaign. She completed the 4-month long Summer Internship successfully achieving and maintaining fundraising targets and other team standards.
Ally graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in communications and is now the Partnerships Manager at Superplastic, a global entertainment brand. I caught up with Ally this year and she agreed to answer a few questions about her experience as a F2F intern in retrospect.
Q: What skills do you believe you gained while interning as a F2F Fundraiser and Marketer?
Ally: I learned to be a problem solver, resilient, and became a better public speaker.
Q: How did this internship compare to other internships for applicable work experience?
Ally: It was different because the job required you to work outdoors in the elements and your success was measured very closely. Those who didn't succeed didn't make it through! It definitely built confidence in public speaking and myself in general.
Q: Did it make you more aware of the plight of children in the world?
Ally: Yes, although I was already aware, it was something I was passionate about, so it felt good to be able to give back directly through my actions.
Q: Did you like the teamwork?
Ally: I did like the teamwork. My co-workers were all cool people, and it was fun to joke around.
What is the PFFA?
The Professional Face-to-Face Fundraising Association (F2F) is a 501(c)3, nonprofit profit organization that educates, advocates and supports the sustainable, ethical and effective acquisition of sustainable donations from members of the public by other nonprofit organizations through responsible self-regulation of industry actors. You can visit our website for more about the PFFA and descriptive photos of F2F fundraising.
The PFFA has over 60 member organizations with offices in more than 45 U.S. cities and most of them will be looking for awesome interns for the Summer semester beginning in April. Members consist of nonprofits, face-to-face fundraising agencies and other creative and fundraising support services for nonprofits and agencies.
Key considerations for an internship with a PFFA member
The PFFA has more than 60 members and many of them hire interns every year to help with their mission related work whether that be directly for a nonprofit organization or for a company that works to service or support nonprofit organizations. Most companies will have:
- A minimum time commitment – usually 30-90 days
- A set schedule that interns typically work
- A designated city or area – usually in-person
- Targets or goals related to fundraising or project completion
Most F2F internships require:
- Working outdoors 6-8 hour shifts which may include a weekend day such as Saturday, instead of a Monday, for example
- Fundraising and marketing objective targets based around your ability to find financial supporters for great causes. This work may also contain some advocacy and/or petitioning work as well.
This is a unique opportunity to gain the experience you will need when you begin to interview upon graduation or you begin transition from one profession to something new.
The PFFA has member offices in more than 25 states and more than 45 US cities. If you think you would like to learn more, please reach out so we can connect you with an office closest to you. Some teams even have seasonal traveling teams that travel throughout the U.S. Please reach out to info@pffaus.org for more information for PFFA members in your area.
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