Profile of a Nonprofit Center Certificate Student
Deborah
Binder: On the Front Lines of
Fundraising
In 2009, Deborah Binder experienced a major transition in her role when she
became development director for the National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia,
without any formal training in fundraising.
Suddenly she was faced with responsibility for fundraising, including an
ambitious $1.5 million capital campaign, and for marketing and communications
for the South Philadelphia landmark, which is being transformed into a center
for conflict resolution, healing, education and spiritual growth.
A former education administrator
with an extensive education that includes doctoral studies, Deborah fully
understood the value one gains from “field experts and those currently employed
in their professions,” and decided to contact The Nonprofit Center during her
first week on the job. She met with
education staff at the Center and “immediately saw the benefits to the
certificate programs” and enrolled in both the both the Fundraising and
Marketing & Communications programs.
If two simultaneous certificates were not enough, she soon added the
Nonprofit Management Certificate, and within eight months had completed all
three programs.
“My expectations were high from
the start,” Deborah said of her desire to learn best practices in resource
development, marketing, communications and all aspects of nonprofit management
that were relevant in today’s world. “I wanted to hear about current research,
examples of methods and activities that were successful and to have knowledgeable
professors who could discuss thei r work in relation to others who they
considered strong in their fields. I wanted days filled with well-planned
lectures, stimulating discussion, varied group activities, suggestions for
future learning opportunities, connections to current technology and networking
opportunities.”
Her high expectations were
met: “I was thrilled and never
disappointed with the professionalism and knowledge base of the instructors,
the amount of worthwhile information, the locations of the classes, the
attention to purposeful evaluations and the information offered In those
evaluations, and the incredible connections I was able to make with so many
giving and experienced professionals who were my classmates,” she explains.
Deborah’s plans to continue to build on this solid knowledge base with additional classes as she continues with the capital campaign and other responsibilities, concluding: “I’m a better professional due to the exceptional instructors and administrators and the incredible people I met in my classes,” she says of her experience with The Nonprofit Center.
