Certificate in Professional Fundraising

Course Overview

Learn the essential knowledge and skills needed to become a professional fundraiser. This course covers key aspects of fundraising, current sector trends, allows you to work on fundraising plans and develop skills that help you to maintain donor relationships. Learn from experienced fundraisers to become established at fundraising and your chosen channel. This course has assessment tasks to gain your Certificate in Professional Fundraising. This course can be delivered in three ways to suit your preferred learning mode and availability. There is a required text book to read for this course that is posted to you once you are registered.

1. Self-paced over 6 months with tutor support via our online learning portal for those who are strong independent learners who like a longer timeframe. There are self-study assessments and text book chapter readings to complete during the 6 months. You are given access to the course materials for 6 months and do have the option to complete the course earlier.
2. Online tutor-led is a 6 day option via zoom spread over 3 months with the support of a tutor for those wanting to complete in a shorter timeframe. There are self-study assessments and text book chapter readings to complete during the 3 months
3. In-class is also a 6 day option over 3 months hosted at a venue in each major city (excluding NT) for those who learn best in a classroom environment. There are self-study assessments and text book chapter readings to complete during the 3 months

What you’ll learn

• The Australian fundraising sector and motivations for giving
• How to develop fundraising plans and strategies for success
• How to build and express a case for support
• How to evaluate and select channels to acquire new donors and grow your relationships
• How to nurture high-value donors, gifts in Wills pledgers and corporate partnerships.

Who is this course for?

• Entry-level fundraisers new to the profession
• Early-career fundraisers with a few years of experience
• Fundraisers wanting to consolidate their existing skills with formal training.

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FIA Code
This course relates to the following aspects of the FIA Code of Conduct:

• FIA Code 2.0 Compliance, 3.0 Ethical conduct, 4.0 Conduct towards Donors, 5.0 Conduct towards Beneficiaries and 6.0 Conduct in Supplier relationships.

Full participation in Certificate in Professional Fundraising is applicable for up to 60 continuing education points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

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Heiko has extensive experience in developing and executing strategic marketing, major gifts fundraising and corporate partnership programs. He has previously worked across health, medical research, educational, community, and charitable organisations throughout Australia. Heiko holds a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact. Heiko has been a Fellow of the Fundraising Institute Australia and has represented Western Australia on the State Executive since 2010.

Maisa is the Head of Digital Fundraising at Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA), a Not-for-Profit (NP) transforming the lives of people living with cerebral palsy. Maisa has more than 10 years of practical experience in multiple areas of fundraising including P2P, Gifts in Will and Events. She specialised in Digital Fundraising and is considered a leader in the sector in this field, presenting in conferences and facilitating courses as a subject matter expert. Maisa was the Gifts in Wills manager at CPA from 2015-2017, leading the organisation to win the FIA Award for the best Gifts in Wills Campaign for a large org in 2018. Maisa has been involved with the STEPtember campaign since year one in 2011, and was part of the core Leadership team who led the campaign to fundraise $11M in 2020 and $18M in 2021 ($10M growth in comparison to 2019 $8M). During her 10-years of employment at CPA, the wider Fundraising team has raised more than A$300M for cerebral palsy.

Maisa is an activist at heart, she likes to experiment with creativity & digitalism. Her vision is to be a social change agent & inspire meaningful, positive, and lasting socio-cultural change at a global level. She is a life-long learner and had a bachelor degree in Graphic Design, formal qualification in Website Development, Marketing, Fundraising Data and Digital Business Strategy via the MIT.

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