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You’re a fundraising professional who knows all about making asks and timing conversations.

Even still, it can feel intimidating to ask your boss to support your professional learning objectives.

Before you go into that conversation, take comfort in some recent stats. CFRE International conducted an illuminating poll on LinkedIn in July 2022. From the poll's 496 respondents, we discovered many employers are willing to put money towards part or all of the cost of staff members' professional development.

You’re Worth the Investment
You’re smart, savvy, and all-in on your organization’s mission. While you may be handily hitting your fundraising targets, you want full assurance your future fundraising will be far more sizzle than fizzle.

Getting to and staying at the top of your professional game takes time and resources.

Don’t feel guilty or selfish for having the desire to upskill. While incredible learning no doubt happens within your workplace’s walls, fresh thinking abounds when breaking your routine.

Your Case for Support
Imagine you wish to attend a three-day conference in another city. What’s involved?

There’s your travel time, time away from the office, and time to catch up on your day-to-day work post-conference. Now factor in the outlay for travel, accommodation, any food not provided on-site, and perhaps an incidental or two.

This is what might be keeping your boss up at night.

It’s your job to convince the powers that be that this is an irrefutable investment in your know-how. It stands to positively impact your organization long-term.

Explain to your boss how you will personally benefit from:

• Top-notch experts you’ll have the opportunity to learn from
• Sessions you wish to attend and how they will buoy your current and future work
• That you will share important trends and learnings with staff after the event (Maximize your registration fee ROI by spreading all that newfound knowledge around!)
• Should a recession arise, you will need an up-to-date skill set to persevere

If a conference advertises, “300 people already registered!” tell your boss.

If many folks in your field plan to participate, you don’t want your skill set getting staler than a week-old scone while everyone else soaks up cutting-edge info.

Can You Spare a Dollar? Or a Thousand?
Have a numbers-obsessed boss? You know the type. Their nose is in a spreadsheet and every time the numbers don’t quite shake out the way they want, their voice lifts an octave.

Crunch the numbers. What is this going to cost your employer in dollars?

$1,000? $2,500? $5,000?

Even if you learned a single knowledge nugget that boosts your next DM campaign’s response rate by 3 percent, that’d be worth it. Now imagine that nugget elevates the response rates of every DM piece you send for the next 12 months.

Well…it’s beginning to sound like that conference could more than pay for itself, doesn’t it?

Nosh and Knowledge
“You want to attend a lunch and learn? You can go but we won’t pay for it.”

Oh, that old chestnut.

Scratch the surface to find out why your boss or organization has this policy. Did your boss once attend a lunch and learn in the prior millennium, deem it a waste of time, and then write them ALL off forevermore?

Is there a false “belief” these events are nothing more than sandwiches and idle chit chat?

If there is a lunch and learn with a topic of interest to your boss, see if they might accompany you. Explain how an upcoming event addresses a pain point causing your team headaches. You’ll be able to bring back new insight and the tools to tackle the conundrum du jour.

Your Organization is the Ultimate Winner
You know the importance of relevance during conversations where you are seeking support.

This one is no different. Demonstrate how attending will strengthen your team’s fundraising while aiding you in learning about what is and isn’t clicking for other organizations.
Sounds like valuable stuff that will lead your team to more fundraising wins, eh?

A Certification or Diploma
“Well if I pay for my staff to get a certification or diploma, as soon as they attain it, they’ll leave our organization for greener pastures.”

You and I both know this is flawed thinking.

Firstly, if having such a qualification would make you more attractive to another employer, wouldn’t it make you doubly attractive to your current employer? You’re deepening your skills. You’re committed to the fundraising profession for the long-haul. You’re a lifelong learner.

These sound like amazing attributes. If anyone stands to benefit from them, it’s your current employer.

While a certification or diploma may be a harder sell, it could be your chance to get innovative. Offer to sign a contract that upon receiving the certification or diploma you guarantee to stay with your organization another 18 months or else payback any fees in full.

If the certification is one that requires you to pass an exam to become certified, try cutting this deal. Offer to pay the full fees upfront and have your employer reimburse you upon passing the exam.

As with all negotiations, secure it in writing. If the certification will take five months to attain, you run the risk of getting a new boss during that period who doesn’t wish to honor the verbal contract made with the prior boss. You’ll wish you had a piece of paper to back you up.

Go Dutch
If you can’t get everything you want, how about part?

Suggesting to split the registration or certification fee could go a long way in showing you’re invested (for real) in keeping your fundraising know-how a notch above the rest.

Keep the Conversation Going
No matter the reason for your boss’ skepticism at fronting up the moolah for your professional development, it likely stems from fear.

Whether it is the fear you’ll get so smart you’ll quickly outgrow your role, will be poached by another nonprofit, or won’t take full advantage of the training (I once attended a conference session where a woman shopped on ASOS the entire time), quell those fears.

You are a whiz at asking for support. Be brave. Be bold. You got this!