“Action Aid cerca responsabile raccolta fondi”: cosa avrei scritto se…

source: flickr

Lunedì si è chiusa una call per una delle posizioni più ambite nel nostro settore.
Action Aid Italy (la “vecchia” Azione Aiuto) cerca un direttore raccolta fondi.
Ognuno di noi ci ha fatto immagino un pensierino… ed alcuni di noi magari qualcosa di più.
Non esendo stato immune al richiamo della grande organizzazione internazionale, nonostante la mia avventura in Cesvi sia appena cominciata e mi trovi davvero bene, ho buttato giù una lettera di statement pensando, inizialmente, che provare non costa nulla.
Con il passare delle ore però l’amore per Cesvi da un lato e la consapevolezza che, al momento, il mio profilo non sia ancora all’altezza del ruolo mi hanno fatto desistere e dal “provare non costa nulla” sono passato al “si prova solo quando, se fossimo dall’altra parte, ci sceglieremmo al volo”.
La lettera però è qui e quindi ho aspettato che la call fosse chiusa per condividerla con voi… è un pò diversa dal solito e a mio parere può essere interessante come approccio alla candidatura… datele un occhio e ditemi cosa ne pensate… purtroppo è in inglese, visto che se mi fossi candidato lo avrei fatto passando per gli head hunter del regno unito per differenziarmi ulteriormente rispetto ai connazionali che saranno stati decine….
Buona lettura e ovviamente attendo commenti!

“Dear…
I would like to start introducing myself with a very simple statement: I’m straight.
Therefore…… I will start listing first of all the reasons WHY Action Aid International – Italy should NOT hire me.

1. I’m too young,
   31 years old, in Italy, are nothing much for a position of such a great responsibility.
2. I have not enough experience in a managerial role
   7 years in the fundraising field, but only one inside an NGO managing a huge budget and a team of 5 persons
3. I only work since 8 months inside an NGO
   As a fundraising consultant I have actually worked for many NGOs at the same time preparing myself to espouse one when I felt ready to do it.

I know this numbering won’t be enough to prove my analytical skills, but I suppose to Know which could be my weak spots in applying for this position and I am convinced that the reasons why not interviewing me should be looked at reasons why.

AAI Italy is searching for someone that brings innovation inside the organization.

After all innovation is also the ability to make over “reasons why not” into “reason why”. So once you have found out this negative reasons you have to turn your head of 360 degrees and reconsider all the situation from a different point of view. Let’s do it:

1. Young means also:

a. powerful

b. fresh

c. able to adapt

d. confident with new media

e. close to the donors of tomorrow

2. No experience in a managerial role means also:

a. very driven

b. focused on objectives

c. challenging

3. Short time in an NGO means also:

a. no biases

b. open minded

c. receptive to changes

I use this skills every day in my job and results are great. In this year (almost a year) in Cesvi we have reached objectives that bring us back to a pre-crisis period started in 2004. We are cutting on expenses and at the same time differentiating effectively our investments. The results are already starting to come: we are re-starting acquiring large numbers of new donors and we are capitalizing strongly on our in-house donors.
I am using the “we” because this results are not only my credit but credit of my team. Five persons working together on direct marketing, legacy, major donors, on-line fundraising, gifts and database analysis under my lead.
But my role in Cesvi is more than that, for internal reason and thanks to the experience I have made in consultancy sector, I work very close with the corporate fundraising team on specific projects, with volunteer and activists team and with the educational sector on the guide lines of strategy management.

This letter is a little example of how an analytical mind with the support of a good strategy could tell a story, usually boring, and transforming it into something different and, I hope, effective.
Here it is what I am, I preferred not to write about commitment to the AAI cause because I take that for granted and I hope you will do the same. To have more details on what I’ve done you can see my attached CV.

One could think that for a person with such an experience is too early to apply for this kind of role. Well sirs, a leading position in AAI doesn’t open every year and for the same reason that allow me to turn your “why nots” into my “whys”, I decided to apply.

Maybe just to prove that sometimes a witless could be considered a brave.
Kind regards,”