Hi, everyone welcome. We're just going to wait a few seconds for people to get in from the waiting room and then we'll go ahead and get started right away. All right, welcome everybody. I'm so excited that you guys could join us for how to become a CFRE. We are going to kick off very quickly here. I just want to do a couple of housekeeping notes. You may have noticed this is being recorded, we will be sharing out that recording to all of our registrants after the fact so you can go back and look at something. The slides are also posted I will be dropping the link and instructions for accessing those into the chat in just a moment. And we will be taking questions throughout the presentation. So if you have questions, please use the q amp a box that you'll find at the bottom of the zoom window that'll just help us sort and make sure that we get to the questions in the right section. And with that, I'm going to go ahead and toss it over to Audrey. Thank you, Christy Hello everyone. My name is Audrey M Johnson, I am based here in the Washington DC region. I've held various leadership roles and fundraising for over 25 years. And most recently as vice president of philanthropy at college track which is a national college entry and completion program for first generation youth. I became a CFRE in 2019. And I have to say it's the best decision I've made ever. We are joined here by a really great panel of CFRE ambassadors who are going to be sharing their CFRE journeys and answering questions. So I'm going to turn it over to them to introduce themselves and we will start with just go in the order that's on the slide starting with Rick. Rick Adelman with the Carter Mason University Foundation in Grand Junction, Colorado. I think I got my CFRE in 2017. I served 13 years as our alumni director and, you know, ended up in fundraising as most as a lot of us just end up in fundraising right and didn't feel like I knew what I was doing so felt like getting my CFRE would at least help me learn what I need to know whether I can do it right or not, at least I know what, what there is to be done in the profession and it has certainly done that, and been a great experience as a fundraiser and I think it's been very much worth it the investment. And we will continue on. Patty, do you want to go next. Sure. Hello everyone. Glad to see you all here. My name is Patty long I currently work at in higher ed I should say I took a break for a while, did some additional fundraising got back into higher ed, and I've had my CFRE since 2020. And for me it was really important it was kind of a self confirmation that I knew what I was doing is a tremendous confidence boost. And when you go into meetings or make introductions you know it's that credential behind that they don't have to ask questions, they know what those letters behind your name that that you know what you're doing. And I highly recommend it as well. I've encouraged other people to do follow the, the, the process study, and just use, use those credentials and use that tool and help build your confidence and help others know that we, we understand our work very well and we're very passionate about it. Thanks, Patty. Eliza, do you want to go next. Yes, thank you. Hi everyone my name is Elisa, I currently serve as the executive director of Community Relations and Development at Holy Trinity School which is an independent school here in the GTA area. I've worked at the University of Ottawa. In the past as director of corporate giving. I had a different position at Ashbury College as well which is also independent school and before that I was with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. I've had my first CFRA I got the first one in 2020 and then I recertified a few years ago. And for me, it brings a lot of credibility, I think people respect you I like how Patty was talking about you know the credentials. They speak for themselves, people know that you are educated you're trained, all the ethical components. I think it just elevates our profession, you know, and disminishifies because some people still think is this a profession is that what you for living, you know, so I think this brings a lot in shaping my experience and being respected as a professional as well. Thank you. And Luis. Hi everybody, Luis Islas here I am the Senior Director of Development, also known as the Development Officer at the University of Minnesota Duluth specifically with the Swenson College of Science and Engineering. I'm like my fellow panelists here I am a relatively new CFRA holder I received my CFRA in 2024 so just last year, I was kind of in the process of trying to decide whether I wanted to jump into philanthropic studies at the Lilly School of Philanthropy CFRA but there are opportunities that are out there. And I have to tell all of you I am so glad that I made the decision to pursue my CFRA and receive these credentials to everybody's point here, it has elevated my confidence here and has garnered a new sense of, let's say trust from my colleagues as well as the people that I serve as well. So when people walk into a room and they see the CFRA credentials are right next to your name they know that you are an expert in your field they know that you know what you're talking about and that you're going to help guide that appropriately so so excited to be here I've worked at a couple of other nonprofits in the past as the Director of Philanthropy as well. But I also served over at Montana State University, and I see some old MSU colleagues here too so nice to see you. So some of you are thinking about becoming a CFRA some of you may have already made the decision, and you're here to get more information to take you to that next step. So we're really hoping that this session will be helpful to you. We're going to be spending a little bit of time just talking briefly about the history of the CFRA. And why, why you should go ahead and pursue this. So explaining some of the benefits, some of which you already heard will explain some of the steps to becoming a CFRA the process and the support that you can get along the way, and throughout will be taking questions, so please feel free to drop them in the chat in the chat and we will make sure we pause to address them. All right, so the CFRA is the only globally recognized accredited credential for fundraising professionals. We've been around for about 40 years. And so this means that the CFRA credential is well established and widely known within the fundraising space. There are over 800 and 8200 CFRAs across 30 countries and territories throughout the world. So wherever you go you know you'll be in good company with like minded professionals who are grounded in best practice ethical fundraising. So as our panelists were introducing themselves some of them already started to talk about some of the benefits that they've received out of pursuing a CFRA. I can say that everything on this list is applicable I could testify to all of that. It definitely is a career catalyst. Career advancement is one of the main reasons why a lot of people pursue a CFRA. Building credibility, you heard Luis mentioned that. You know, walking into a room of confidence. I know in my process, it was also very validating going through the study process and just validated everything I already knew about fundraising, but maybe wasn't sure about and also solidified that knowledge to a level where I felt really confident and speaking with authority about what I had learned. And I learned some new things as well because the study process is so rigorous. You know, it certainly is a way to demonstrate your dedication to the profession and to expand your network as well. There's a whole community of folks now that you will have access to as a CFRE that will only benefit you in whatever career path you choose to pursue beyond that. And of course, the salary increases is nothing to sneeze at. It is definitely been for me personally has created opportunities that I didn't expect in terms of salary and certainly CFRE does have the opportunity to increase that earning power. Alright, so moving on to the steps to becoming a CFRE. There are three major steps, the application, the exam and then recertification. There are three major steps, the application, the exam and then recertification. So today we're only going to be focusing on the initial certification process. So we'll mostly be talking about the application and the exam. I do want to note, though, that as a CFRE you have to recertify every three years in order to stay current. So while there's no exam for the recertification, you will need to submit an application to recertify and keep up with your education and so on. There's some specific requirements around that. And there's more information available about recertification on the website on the CFRE website. So the application process involves completing and submitting your application to mycfre.cfre.org. It's a pretty rigorous application. And then the CFRE staff, when they receive it, will review the application to make sure it fits into all the parameters that are required. And once the application is approved, you'll get an email with instructions on how to schedule your exam. Now, you have to make an appointment to take the test and then once you do the exam, you will receive your score that day and you will also get it in the mail later on. So the CFRE application works on a point system. As you enter your information, there's three categories education, professional development and professional performance and then the application will automatically calculate the points related to each of those areas for you. Points for all three categories must be earned within the last five years of your professional life. So if you're applying this year in 2025, the points will be accepted as of January 1, 2020. And the one exception to that is your professional degrees, your academic degrees, sorry. So those points will never expire. Your education points can come from a combination of fundraising learning opportunities like webinars or your academic degrees or volunteer work. Your professional practice and professional performance points must be earned from a paid role. So if you hold a full time fundraising position, at least 50% of your job duties must consist of a fundraising related activities. And if you're part time, then 100% of your duties must be fundraising related in order for those points to count. And for professional performance points, those may include things like your funds raised, the actual dollar amounts that you've raised, communication projects, management projects, again related to fundraising. So I'm going to pause here and turn it over to our panel. Maybe you could share, some of you could share, what tips you use for completing the application or for earning and tracking your education or professional practice or professional performance points. Elisa, do you want to go first? Yeah, happy to. I think that one thing that for me made a difference was the fact that I was able to get a full time job. Yeah, happy to. I think that one thing that for me made a difference was to try to apply fundraising to different kinds of professional opportunities, professional development opportunities that I had. So, for example, when I was taking my, I have a certification on DEI and I did all my work related to fundraising on that aspect. And then I was able to present paperwork that proves that even though it was a DEI certification, I was applying my knowledge as a fundraiser on those activities as well. Because sometimes when you look at those numbers and you're like, oh my gosh, I will never achieve that. It seems so far sometimes, but it's more realistic than you think you can be. So in my case, of course, CFRE came back to me and they said, can you prove us? So I submitted my things like the projects that I worked on or documentation that supported. You always have to back up through documentation, but it was very interesting to be able to do that and kind of combine two passions of my life as well. So that for me was really important. Yeah, that's a great point. Making sure that you have that backup documentation and also realizing that your, you know, work that you may not think on its face is related. I mean, you're doing it in the course of your job. So, of course, there's going to be some crossover there. It's good to draw those parallels. Anyone else? Patty, do you have anything you want to add there? Sure. Like for me, if you have not taken a look at the application or started your process, you might not know how it works. It's not just a sit down in one go and fill it all out. Although some people might be able to do that. For me, it was something that I referred back to after I attended an education seminar, then I would go back to my application and put that in there. So I kind of had a running total and done that with my recertification too, because that's always that's a continuous component. Rather than get to the timeframe that you have to complete it and think, let me think back. If you think of it as just an active living document that you can update as you go along, it might create much less stress and anxiety and trying to remember all the seminars, events and education that you've completed. Yeah, very true. Let's see. Are there any questions in the chat around this topic? I see there's a question related to the cost and how it's covered. We're going to be touching on that a little bit later on. So we'll save that for later. Did anyone on the panel have anything to add to this particular topic around the application process before we move on? I'll just quickly add that, you know, one of the things that I was doing early on as I was looking to apply for the CFRE is I was looking at my CV and the list of workshops that I had presented at, list of education and training opportunities that had come about. And it was really hard to find everything, right? Because over the years, as you're in this profession, and you attend X amount of trainings throughout any fiscal year, you kind of lose track and you stop maybe tracking them within your CV, etc. So I remember in the very beginning, when I was looking through this, I thought there is no way that I am going to be able to meet these point requirements to successfully apply for the CFRE. However, when I started digging through emails and history, etc., I quickly found that things add up very, very quickly. And to your point, Eliza, you know, keeping that backup documentation is so incredibly important because then the hassle that a company tried to find that to make it applicable to my application was extremely difficult. Now, this is a two-pronged process, right? Now that I have my CFRE, I'm a little bit of an anomaly in that I love spreadsheets, right? Maybe some of my fellow fundraisers on this call can identify with that, can relate to that. But I have a running spreadsheet of all of the opportunities that I've attended, the name, when they occurred, how many CFRE points are potentially applicable to said training because I don't want to repeat that same mistake that I had that first time, right? And realistically, it wasn't a mistake. You just didn't know what you didn't know. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I want to echo Patty and Luis because that's exactly what I did with my certification and the recertification. So both of them say, don't be shy. Whoever is on the call, keep your Excel documents there, write everything because this is going to save you a lot of time in the future. Absolutely. I'd like to say when I did my initial certification, most of my background had been in alumni relations. So I didn't have that big track record of fundraising proper, but being part of a fundraising team allowed me to get those professional performance points that I needed. Yeah, and that's a good segue to the question in the chat. When you talk about recording fundraising dollars, does this mean money you raised entirely on your own or as a joint venture? And yeah, some of you may be in fundraising adjacent roles or in management roles where you're overseeing a team and may carry a smaller portfolio, for example. The funds that your team is raising can also count toward your points. So as much as possible, you obviously want to give credit where credit is due and make sure you're not taking credit for other people's work. But if you have a role to play in those dollars raised, then there's a way to count that. And I think several people sent questions into the Q&A box about specific things. Would a DEI conference be covered? Is my role in prospect development and research covered? So just to highlight those, and Paul's been in there answering the question. So prospect development research, it sounds like, is definitely considered fundraising. So if that's you, that is part of this. Maybe you guys could sort of talk about how you think about the education and training that you brought into it, whether to include it in your points or if there's documentation people can sort of look at. So as they get into these specifics of does this thing I did count, how they sort of determine that. Okay, anyone have anything to add there? All right, well, we'll probably touch on that as we go. So let's move on to the next slide. So as part of the application process, you'll select your preferred testing window for the CFRE exam. So as you can see on the slide, there are four testing windows that occur throughout the year, and each window has a corresponding deadline on when you need to submit your application to be able to sit for that test. So for example, we're almost in July. If you plan to take the test between July 15th and September 15th, your deadline to submit your application would be July 15th. But after your application is approved, you have up to a year to sit for the exam in one of those windows. Yeah. So the exam itself is 200 multiple choice questions. There are four options per question. The exam covers six knowledge domains. And on the screen, you can see that many of the questions there are, how many questions there are in each domain, and what percentage of the overall test it takes up. So current and prospective donor research, there's 26 questions related to that topic area, and that will take up about 15% of the exam. And then the exam itself is, you know, takes probably a couple of hours to do. I think you get three or four hours in total, but I think most people can do it within a couple of hours. Okay. Now, this might, it might feel daunting, but CFRE does provide several resources that will help you prepare for the exam. Things like the test content outline to give you a really good idea of what you're walking into. There's a suggested reading list, which I highly recommend using. There's a practice exam or study guide that you can access for an additional cost. Many of the AFP chapters also provide a study group. The AFP chapter out here in DC, for example, does an eight-week study group in the fall of each year. And I actually participated in that and found it tremendously helpful. You have an automatic cohort of people that you can use as a resource and study with and help you prepare. And they take you through a very structured, eight structured sessions that covers a lot of the content that's on the exam. And I now actually teach the ethics portion of that study group each year and have for a few years now. So how about you on the panel? Can you share some tips on how you prepared for the exam and what resources did you find the most helpful? Rick, do you want to start? Sure. I think one of the things to keep in mind, right? And one of the big reasons I did it was to invest in my knowledge and my education, not just the letters behind my name because I'm in rural Western Colorado and they don't have the same value as they do in an urban setting with a lot of universities, et cetera. So a big part of it was, I need to know what I'm doing as a fundraiser. And so to approach it as an investment, an investment in yourself rather than a chore, right? This is an opportunity to really get that basic knowledge. And if you approach it as I want to learn, I'm investing in myself instead of, oh, I got to study for this test and it's hard and all those things. So keeping the right attitude, I think is hugely important. Anyone else? I can add to that. I would encourage everyone to create a study plan that works for you. So for example, in my case, my test was in 2020. I had a four-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son. So I was handling, juggling between taking care of my kids and studying. And what I did is I wrote my plan. So I said, okay, I will take my exam in let's say three months from here. This is what it's gonna work. And then I had a conversation with my partner and he said, okay, every Sunday afternoon, you have your free time. So you go, you study, and then I'll do. So I had goals per day. So each kind of work shift that I had, like a study shift that I had, I was putting my goals in that would work for me. Several times during lunch hours, instead of going for lunch, I said, I'm gonna sit down here and I'm gonna read one more chapter here. I participated in some of those study groups. But for me, because of my reality with my time zone and my work, it didn't work as I was expecting, but I was able to come up with something that worked for me. So if you are an early bird, if it makes sense for you to sit at six in the morning, do it. If you are a night owl, maybe you wanna start studying at 10 p.m. Because I know, I recognize that it's challenging sometimes when you have a full day, like you're working full time, but you still need to make time. And I think Rick brought an important point here about learning more and not only doing that. So do something that works for you and that is meaningful to you so you can make the best out of it. I'll jump in there. And I would say, find a study buddy. I was lucky enough to find an online group, actually. It was like a cohort that was studying. We were all playing to sit for the exam at different times, but we would all take, there would be a different topic each week. And one of us in the group would do the presentation and there were additional, sometimes they would have their own questions made up, like these would be my exam questions, which is very helpful because a question might be phrased in a different way and you might think about it differently. And I found that that was great preparation using my peers to help me study as well. And I'll quickly add to that as well. But to Eliza's point, I mean, you have to do anything that works for you as well. I had very structured study days throughout my week. I think my days were Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Nothing too long, about an hour at a time whenever I can make it work. And of course, life gets in the way. I had a one-year-old at the time who was frantic and needed a lot of attention. And so some days it was only Mondays throughout the week, right? But to Patty's point, you can plan a little bit ahead. I think I scheduled my test to be in about two months, so I had that study time. That resource reading list is so beneficial. One of the content items that I found within there is Achieving Excellence in Fundraising, fifth edition, write it down. And I just continuously highlighted different chapters and sections throughout that book, even sections where I felt particularly strong in, right? In the donor life cycle, I think that I'm relatively strong in cultivating relationships. And I was this close to bypassing those entire chapters. But when I went through it and forced myself to read through that, I found myself highlighting just different sections that I thought, wow, this is something that I completely overlooked or something I hadn't thought of, or just reinforcing my current way of thinking as well. I listened to podcasts too, and the practice exams. I cannot emphasize enough just how important they are because the way that the questions are worded within the CFRE exam are different than the way that you and I speak, right? So worth just getting familiar with the cadence of the questions was so beneficial too. And I think one thing that not a lot of people talk about is the failures that they have within the CFRE exam too. I took the CFRE exam twice. I failed the first time. And the first time that I failed was because I was a little bit overconfident, the same way that I was with the LSAT with the first time I took it. And upon doing some reflection and taking some more time to read through the content, study, and do all of the tips that everybody else has suggested here, it was prime, helped me out a lot. Yeah, I can't underscore the practice exam enough. If you have any exam writing anxiety, it's a really good way to practice and put yourself in that scenario so that you can overcome that anxiety before you actually go into the real thing. So I found that really helpful and it's also a really great way to study using the flashcards as well. Christy, are there any questions from the audience? There are. So someone had actually asked in the chat about whether it made sense to get extra points if you've already met the minimum requirements. And I just wanna highlight what Paul said back, that yes, it may, because of course, if something that you submit doesn't get approved for points you wanna have extra points as backup. Someone also asked for our panelists, how early in your fundraising career did you decide to certify? Would there be any downsides to certifying early? This person is reaching three years as a fundraising professional next March and is wondering if there's any reason to wait. Anyone? I'd say no. I said, you know, I had been in fundraising and then got into higher education fundraising and I wish that I had a little sooner. Yeah, I agree. I think, you know, the sooner you invest in yourself, the longer you're gonna have a payback on that investment. So yeah, do it as soon as you can, I'd say. Absolutely no drawbacks, definitely do it. Yeah, absolutely. Just to put some number to that. So my personal experience, I'm coming from different backgrounds, but as a fundraiser, I worked for five years before I applied for my certification. So maybe, you know, I could have done it before, but it was on the five-year mark and I think it came at a very good time for me. Mm-hmm. All right, well, let's move on to the fees. So the fee for the initial certification is now 875. If you belong to a participating organization such as AFP, for example, you get a discounted rate. So that would reduce the cost to 700. And there's a list of the participating organizations on the website, on the CFRE website. The fees include the application review, taking the exam at a Pearson VUE test center, or if there's not one near you, you can also do it from home or an office on their VUE platform. And then after you become a CFRE, you receive a digital badge that you can use on your public social media platforms. And then you'll also receive a printed certificate that will be mailed to you at no charge. So yeah, you know, this is, I think, another argument for doing it sooner rather than later, because the fees do increase, you know, they may increase over time. So I know when I took it, it was less, it cost less than it does now. So that's also probably another reason not to wait. Audrey, can I jump in there for a minute? Because in talking about fees, I know that there was a question or two, and I've had people ask me before. About the fees, and some employers will help you pay for that, some won't. Some chapters of AFP have scholarship money available, and they will help with that cost too. So if that is a hindrance to you, make some inquiries, ask your local AFP chapter, and certainly have, you know, if you feel comfortable, have that conversation with your employer. Yep, and you've just gone on to our next slide, which is exactly what I was going to iterate. Over 50% of our CFREs say that their employer contributed to part of, or all of the cost of pursuing the certification. So definitely it is worth asking, and we do have a template that you can use that gives you language on what you can, how you can ask your employer for that support. And as I mentioned, you know, participating organizations will provide a discount, many of them. And we have over 200 ambassadors who are ready to chat with you one-on-one. If, you know, if you have additional questions or would like some tips, you can email share at CFRE.org to be connected with one of us. And if there are more specific questions to your circumstances, the CFRE team would be happy to chat with you as well. And you can email them at succeed at CFRE.org. So the important thing to know there is that you're not alone in this process. They're, you know, we're here to support you and, you know, help connect you to any available resources. And if I may use exactly the letter you're referring to, when I asked for my organization to support my CFRE, I just took the template, it was easy. Like it's a no-brainer. You don't have to even to just elaborate anything. It's all there. And I was successful with that when I applied for that. So use the letter, because it was my case particularly was very helpful. Yeah, absolutely. And many employers, they can see the benefit because, you know, it helps them as well, knowing that they have, you know, competent, accredited professionals in-house. It makes them look good too. Any other comments from the panel? Not anything. Chrissy, any questions in the chat? We had several questions from people wondering about how you get enough education points. So I don't know if you guys can expand on how you personally got up to that 80 point mark to apply initially. Well, I'll jump in and then I'll turn it over to the panel. A lot of the courses that are offered by organizations like AFP or any other association that you belong to, some of them you can look for the ones that are accredited by CFRE and those courses will count towards your points specifically. Not any course will necessarily count. So look for those and yeah, keep track of those. Anyone else with other thoughts there? I think if you're with a small organization, you know, cost for continuing ed is always a consideration. And so if you're diligent, you can find so many free or low cost resources out there just to, you know, keep looking for them and use the resources on the CFRE page. Conferences are another way to get a lot of points in one go. I have- That's what I was- Sorry. Go ahead, Luis. Oh, I was just gonna piggyback off of that, Audrey. I think conferences are one of the best ways to gather those CFRE points. Sometimes if you attend a multi-day conference, the actual sessions will have the CFRE points that are listed right next to it, for example. So you can kind of piggyback off of sessions and kind of gather points that way. So that's something to keep in mind for the future. And since this is a case webinar, I will say that we do offer CFRE for most of our conferences and a lot of our webinars and online content as well. So you can look through our offerings for that. So- Sorry, I was just gonna add that. What I did is I used attended conferences as well. Another thing is if you're a presenter, if you're speaking at a conference, this also counts more points as well. So people who like to present, that is an opportunity. And I remember there was helping someone through the ambassador program the other day, and she was sharing that her organization does not support, it's a small, not-for-profit organization. She wouldn't have support. So we were Googling, how can I get free CFRE courses? And we found a few options together. So sometimes it's just going there and asking that. But I would say that all those conferences for people who are on this line, who are from independent schools. So CASE, the C-S-A-E, CASE in Canada, C-A-I-S, all those conferences, they count points towards that. Yes. And there's also points you can get through volunteer service, sitting on a board or participating on a committee as is suggested here in the chat. As long as it's related to fundraising, you should be able to get points for those too. So I think this is, if each of you could sort of chime in about this, how has holding the CFRE benefited your career? Who wants to jump in first? I'll jump in. I mean, for me, it's just made me a better fundraiser. I mean, learning what I've had to learn to know the business, and then to continually have that impetus to get recertified, you have to keep learning and mastering the craft. And then that just gives you an internal confidence and, you know, sincerity, passion and confidence are what make you a good fundraiser, I think. So it's been very helpful. I'll jump in next here. I think it's, there are multiple ways that it's benefited my career. The number one way that I've thought of is that last year, towards the latter end of the last calendar year, I usually am a part of multiple boards for nonprofit organizations. This time around, I wanted to take a step back and be a bit more intentional. One of the things that I always had in the back of my head was I wanted to launch my own consulting firm when it came to fundraising and leadership. And, you know, since I had a little bit more time back, I decided to actually start that consulting firm. It's called Rice is Rising Consulting. And when I started to, you know, put together my website and kind of my content, I enlist all my credentials here. In the beginning, I thought it's going to be very difficult to kind of get maybe a steady pool of clientele for this organization. However, I started once they kind of made the announcement to my networks, there was a steady pipeline of people that were coming to me. And some of the conversations that I had had with these folks was, you know, there were multiple options, multiple consulting firms that are out there. However, when they saw that I had the CFRE and somebody else didn't, they reached out to me over that person. So that helps open the door a lot of times on that front. And of course, starting in this position as a senior development officer at the University of Minnesota Duluth, when I applied and kind of talked about what my expectations were for this role, having my CFRE also helped me talk about my position title, helped me negotiate my salary as well. So the list of benefits goes on. Yeah, absolutely. Sorry. Go ahead. Well, I was just going to say for me, it's just a huge career boost in, you know, in terms of accessing positions that I probably wouldn't have been able to access before. Being invited to speak on panels at conferences, you know, deliver workshops, sit on boards. Those just came fast and furious, you know, shortly after I got my CFRE. So it really did just propel my career forward by leaps and bounds. Patty, go ahead. Thank you. I would say recognition by others, but validation for myself that I, you know, I do know, I do understand. And something else that I will share, this is kind of a, some people might consider this adjacent, right, but our network and our peer network is amazing. And on the website, there are chat boards and you can ask other CFREs questions. It's a tremendous resource because you know that these are certainly like-minded individuals. You know that they understand the field and it's a place to share and bounce ideas off of. And it's also a great resource that is not available to everybody. So. From my experience, I would say that it helped me access some positions that I wouldn't be able to because many job descriptions say, at least here in Canada, they say CFRE is considered an asset. And I take it as an asset, you know, like I'm proud of that. So I talk about that. And for me, that is something that is big, but it's also helped setting the tone with my employers. So I've worked in four different not-for-profit organizations and I realized that for me, education is the big one. And for me to show that my continuous, like I want to keep learning. I want to improve myself. I want to be, you know, someone that's my passion. And then it helps me set the tone because they know that for me to continue growing my CFRE, to keep my credentials, I need to keep studying. So I think it also delivers a message of growth that you're willing to, you know, take risks, but to learn more and helps me because then it's part of my employment conversation. So it's always a question that I ask, like, okay, how does this organization see professional development? What kind of support do you give to that? So for me, it also helps me setting the tone on that because it's something that is important for me. Yeah. All right. How long did it take you to get certified from the time that you started the application to fulfilling all the requirements and then studying and taking the exam? I gave myself a really short window. I applied, I think, in July and I sat for the exam in October. And so I studied most of the summer and just got it done. Anyone else? I had a very similar process, Audrey. I gave myself between three to four months to get it done only because of the one-year-old daughter and the short time frame that I had to get a lot of stuff done. So it was ambitious, but it was doable. I recall, it was a long time ago, but yeah, it was months, right? It's not something you just fill out in a week and you get your card. It's, you know, plan it out and take a few months to do it. I think for me, it was about six months, thinking that it was also post-pandemic. So we were still under a lot of restrictions at the time. But between the time that I decided to apply, you know, get everything in order, it took me probably six months to get to the test. I think my window was pretty short, like two months, maybe. But then when I was qualified and I could sit for the exam, then COVID hit. So I had a little delay there. It sounds like for you guys, I'll knock them out pretty quickly. What was the biggest challenge that you faced when trying to meet all the requirements at your CFRE? In my case, I think the biggest challenge was just remembering all of the things, because I hadn't been tracking them as much as, you know, as people have talked about. So it was just, you know, having to scroll back in my brain to remember all the educational, you know, all the educational pieces and the fundraising and all of that, that you have to include in the application. But, you know, when you do that once, then, you know, you have a system in place and it gets easier going forward. For me, before applying, I had a manager who was someone who really pushed me for the CFRE. And I think if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have done it. So I'm very, very grateful that she was that voice. Elisa, come on, you can do it, believe in yourself. So she played such an important role. And I think that's, I think I'm talking on behalf of all the panelists here. Like, I think that's a message that is important that we share with you is that believe in yourself, you can do it. And if you don't have the hours, let's, let's find ways, you know, let's, if the education is the issue, there are ways, you just have to be creative and think about it. But it's believing in yourself, and then putting all those things, as Audrey was saying, like, and we mentioned that a few times, it's keeping that spreadsheets that was helpful, and keep doing that. Because even after you certify, you eventually are going to recertify and you don't want to be in the same position where you don't remember things. I will say there's a little bit of satisfaction to when you fill out that application, and you look and you say, Wow, look, I really have done a lot. You know, I think there's, I think we need to take that moment to and say, Wow, that's some, that's some good stuff. I'd say, you know, not to be intimidated by the process, I think, especially first getting into fundraising and, you know, all these things seem intimidating, but if you break them into little pieces and just approach it and ask questions. CFRE has always just been so helpful to me and everybody I know, you know, if you have a question about it, just ask the question, and you'll get a good answer. They're here to guide you through the process. You know, it's, it's a, you know, robust certification, but they're here to help you not, you know, keep you out. I think for me, it was, it was trying to narrow down the direction that I wanted to head. And when it came to increasing my own knowledge and earning some kind of a credential, there's, there's a couple of things that are out there that all of you are probably already aware of. And one of the things that was really beneficial for me was actually reaching out to a CFRE ambassador and connecting with them and asking them directly, how has this certification benefited you? And what is your recommendation when it comes to these other credentials that exist out there? And just talking through it and kind of aligning myself with what I thought was going to be most beneficial. Patty, I can't believe that I didn't even talk about the vast network of resources and people that we have at our disposal. I mean, it's, it's phenomenal, right? When you are, when you earn your CFRE, I have an access to a whole network of individuals that are professionals all across the world. And I've seen questions roll through this incredible network from, can anybody walk me through what a good gift acceptance policy would be to what are some great stewardship practices that exist out there? And you have people from Hong Kong, Australia, et cetera, reaching out and giving you examples of things that have worked for them. I mean, what better resource do you have at your disposal, especially in a field that can become so siloed sometimes? And I just, I want to highlight one question. There have been lots of questions in the Q&A box that Paul is answering as they come in, but for the, for the good of the group, someone had asked a little bit more about how the professional performance points work. And he explained that candidates receive one point per USD 25,000 raised or five points per communications or management projects, and you can use any combination of actual funds raised in projects to meet that 55 point requirement. So if anybody else also had that question, that is out there. So what is one thing that you guys wish you had known before you started this process? And I'm definitely hearing like you wish you had tracked your education points. You know, if we could all be as organized in hindsight as we should have been, but is there anything else that you wish you had known before you started? Anyone on the panel? I would say it does seem daunting, but it's not as scary as you think it is. You know this, especially if you've been in this field for a while. It's, it does, I was very intimidated. But as you get into the process, as you start going through the application, it all looks manageable. Yes, I can do this. Yes, I've got this section completed. Let me go to the next section, you know, if you do it in, in, in segments, as it's set up, piece by piece, it's, it's not as, as hard. As you think it's certainly manageable for you. So don't, don't not do it because you think it's a tall mountain that you cannot climb, because you can. 100%. That's exactly what I was gonna say. The other day, I was working with someone I know she was considering applying and we and she's like, Oh, but I will never have the points. I'll never have that. And it became this huge monster. And when we sat down together, we saw that yes, it was a mountain that she could climb. Yes, it wasn't a monster. And if you were considering and you're afraid, or you don't know, or you need some help. There are so many ambassadors, people that are putting their hands up and say, Hey, I'm here to help. I want to help. And I'm sure many of them would be happy to support you, you know, answering questions or just mystifying something. So reach out if you don't have someone on your network on the current network that can support you. CFRE can offer you support with that through their ambassadors and their team as well. So but if you just need to bounce back ideas, reach out. It's not as big as you think it is, even though you have to take it seriously. Because I think that's the one point that Louise was saying, sometimes you're overconfident and like, Oh, maybe I don't need to study that hard. Yes, you do study hard, but you can do it. So I would that would be my piece. And I would add it's not a now or never type of situation. If you know if you do apply and you find you don't have enough points, you know, give yourself another six months to get those extra points. You know, and then and then try again. And as we said, you know, you if you don't pass the first time you there's another opportunity to take the exam. So it's it is a process, but and you don't have to. And Chris, you can correct me if I'm wrong. I think there's a small fee to take it a second time, but it's not the same big fee to do the exam again. So, you know, there's lots of opportunities. I'll drop an answer to that in the chat for everybody. Yeah, there are lots of opportunities to get there eventually. I think for me, and this is already mentioned before, and I started off with this as well, but I came in with a little bit of a different mentality. I thought since I had been in fundraising and philanthropy for 10 plus years that, you know, I, I know this like the back of my hand. This is going to be somewhat easier. And to all of your points, it's recognizing that, you know, just because you've been immersed in a field for so long doesn't mean that, you know, the ins and outs of everything. So, taking that time, even if you are, you know, we've been talking a lot about, you know, not having the confidence to apply or trying to get over that mountain. And what about the other side of the coin when you have maybe a little bit too much confidence that you don't need to study that hard? Well, the fact of the matter is you do, right? You need to take that time to set an hour, two hours every other day, whatever your study habits or whatever works for you to dive into the content, dive into the material, find resources that work for you. And I wish that I would have connected with the CFRE ambassador faster than I did that last time, because it was only the second time that I connected with the CFRE ambassador after I failed due to that overconfidence. Yeah, and I think the study resources will really help you prepare as well. You know, again, the practice exam gives you the lingo and it helps you understand how they phrase questions, because again, it's not how we would necessarily think about a situation. And the study group really emphasized go by what the book says, not necessarily what might happen in real life. That's really important. And having that reinforced throughout the eight weeks of the study group was really helpful. We just have a couple of minutes left. So I do want to say, because there were a lot of questions that Paul was answering in the Q&A box, and I will download those out and I will post the questions and answers that if people want to go back and review those, they can. And just on a final note, for all of you guys on the panel, if you have any closing words of wisdom you would like to share with people. I would say, you know, go for it. Worst case scenario, you don't get it. You still invested in yourself and you've made yourself better, whether you get the letters behind your name or not. So there's really nothing to lose. It's an investment in yourself. For me, I would say that even looking back from I'm coming from independent school, I work in an independent school, but I've worked in universities before. Sometimes we think from independent schools that it's, you know, it's much smaller or, you know, there is no benefits to it. There is. There is. Having those letters behind your name mean a lot. It opens opportunities for new opportunities, new jobs, or even for you to be more respected, to be another level of accountability as well. So I would say it's an invest, see that as an investment in yourself. See that as something that is going to make you better, not only for yourself, but also for the community behind you. And put yourself out there and don't hesitate to ask for help if you need. Yeah, I'll just add that, you know, to your point, Eliza, we've been talking a lot about what it can do for yourself. And it's worth remembering that a lot of us on this call got into philanthropy for a reason. It was for the communities that we're passionate about. Right? So remembering your why and the reason why you do the work that you do and remembering that this credential is not just to enhance your own practices, but it's to help those communities that you are passionate about as well. Right? Regardless of the organization that you work at, regardless of your interests outside of your nine to five as well, if you want to continue to make an impact, some of the best ways to do that is to invest in yourself. And that way, you know, investing in your communities to try to accompanies that simultaneously. Patty, any final words? I am just excited to see so many people on in this webinar here. We all think that you guys have taken the first step. If you haven't started your application, start that application, reach out if we can help. It is truly an investment in yourself and a confidence booster. And if you're even thinking about it, you know, you can do it. I think that's your sign that you need to follow through and take care of it. And we'll see you on the other side. All right. And that's a great place to close. I want to thank all the panelists, Rick, Patty, Elisa, and Luis for sharing your wisdom and tips and tricks with everyone here. We hope that you learned something and that it will help position you to take that next step to complete the CFRE so that we can welcome you to this wonderful community. And please don't hesitate to reach out to the CFRE team if you have any other questions. So thanks again, everyone, for joining us today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you, everyone. Take care, y'all. Thank you.

CFRE certification

career advancement

fundraising

professional development

study schedules

application process

financial considerations

network of professionals

career opportunities