Here's how you can navigate the challenges of a fundraising internship.

Donors provide meaningful context to the organization's history and "why" they support the mission. Walk alongside volunteers, constituents that are served, and investigate outcomes. Get comfortable with anecdotal stories collected to be ready to retrieve and share based on a donor's experience. Think about "how does the organization make me feel?" Also, look at the competitive landscape, not just your peers. Who is also active in the community requesting valuable resources? What is the value proposition that stands out?

When working with investors, most importantly you have to prove your integrity to them, especially when you are new to the field Right after comes building relationships. The fact that you have KPIs and very challenging targets, is totally meaningless to investors, so focus on building relationships and don’t try to squeeze a quick buck Fundraising takes time, you should embrace that and ideally your boss should already understand that it is a process and not an event which commences once a new hire joins the company or once you attend the first networking event Fundraising is like a seed you plant, you nurture and at a future time you harvest. Some take a month others take few years. Acknowledge it, embrace it, and enjoy the journey…

An example I've seen is having done some of that stuff before is if you believe in it you can achieve it I feel that the cause hits close to home 🏡 naturally you are passionate about that I think 🤔 that being surrounded by your teammates has an impact I want believe that no man 👨 is an island 🏝 and I am not alone Therefore I intend to be surrounded by tons of people who believe in the cause and care

Active listening and learning will get the most out of any internship for you. Internship tasks can range from administrative to complex, but all should be impactful and drive impact. Have thorough discussions about the projects you are working on with your supervisor and be sure to understand what you are contributing to and the bigger picture. To you, it might only seem like data entry in a CRM, but to the team it's providing critical administrative support that ensures fundraisers have the current information to fundraise and steward with. Building your network and maintaining it through and after the internship will be the groundwork for later conversations; foster connections, ask as many questions as you can.

The simplest statement I can make is that “friend-raising leads to fundraising”… Get to know your potential donors and familiarize understanding their desires… be that friend first and that donor’s funding will follow…

Building relationships is a fundamental strategy for any fundraising efforts. Initially, establishing these connections may incur some costs. However, maintaining existing relationships can yield the benefits of previous work, often referred to as the “low-hanging fruit”. This implies that the cost of fundraising could be significantly reduced over time. Based on my experience, I have observations about relationships. When building them, our focus is outward-looking. However, when managing these relationships, our attention turns inward.

Managing time effectively often means minimizing distractions to maintain focus on critical tasks. Create a dedicated workspace and establish clear boundaries for your working hours.

Feedback is quite important during the internship. It will help you shape your hard/soft skills and increase your efficiency. In fundraising you should always ask about the feedback in: - pitch deck structure; - outreach strategy; - outreach messages; - communication skills; - data room structuring.

During your internship, ask lots of questions and ask to have individual meetings with everyone in the office. As an intern you'll be in a position to potentially work on a variety of projects and interact in many different spheres of fundraising. This is a great time to figure out an area of fundraising that would be interesting to you and to try your hand at various spheres or have conversations with experts in each area.