Derek McLean
What do you do?
I am a Fundraising Consultant, working with not for profit charitable organizations. In that role I work with clients to help them: do Strategic Planning (particularly with respect to fundraising); develop a 12-, 24- or 36-month fundraising plan; conduct a feasibility study which tests what they believe their Case for Support is and estimates what level of possible support might be available to them in their future capital campaign; and, run a Capital Campaign. In the latter instance, my preference is that the client actually learns how to run, and actually does run, the campaign so that in the future they can do the work and take ownership for themselves.
How did you get there?
My career has primarily been in marketing: in politics, the marketing of (and fundraising for) a candidate; in advertising, the marketing of a product; and, in charitable work, the marketing of the charity and in turn encouraging support / donations for that charity. My first full time job was with a political party and included fundraising components. I continued to do volunteer fundraising work with charities (going door to door for donations, running special events, dinners, etc). At one point, when I was 36 and looking at a career move (in this case out of advertising), the move to work for a charity and running their door-to-door campaign was a natural one.
Why do you like it?
There are three things that I particularly enjoy: building the relationship with and getting to know the donor and their likes and dislikes, which are keys to their decision to making large(r) donations; running strategic planning sessions amongst 8 - 12 people that confirm and focus an organization’s goals and vision, and then developing plans with them that have measurable outcomes for the future; and, mentoring fellow fundraising professionals who need someone to listen to their ideas, give them confidence in trusting their instincts, and occasional direction as they move forward in their job and career.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was young and in a church choir, I thought I wanted to be an Anglican minister. Later, in my teens as I headed for university, I thought I’d like to be a mathematics teacher and guidance counsellor.
