Most Important Skills For A VP Philanthropic Strategies At United Way San Diego
Katie, a VP at United Way, believes the most crucial skills for a role like theirs are caring deeply about the community and aligning that passion with the organization's mission because "you're not selling a product, you're selling a feeling"; also critical are leadership to unite people around that feeling and perseverance, especially the "self-esteem to constantly ask people to help," even in the face of frequent rejection.
Community Engagement, Leadership, Fundraising, Communication, Resilience
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Katie Khaism-San
VP Philanthropic Strategies
United Way of San Diego County
SDSU & Springfield College
Humanities, Business Management & Admin
Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Communication and Marketing
Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Caring about the community and aligning your work with your individual passion and mission is paramount in this field.
2. Leadership skills are crucial in nonprofit, as you are selling a feeling and the sense of belonging, requiring the ability to communicate and bring people together.
3. Perseverance and self-esteem are essential to handle frequent rejections when asking for donations, while also celebrating and communicating wins to the team to maintain morale.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
I think really caring about the community is number one. Caring about people, caring about the community, and making sure it aligns with your individual passion and mission. That's the most important, hands down.
Secondly, leadership. You have to be a leader in a nonprofit because you're not selling a product, you're selling a feeling. People want to feel a sense of belonging. Being able to communicate that and bring people together is a really important skill.
And then the third, I would have to say, is perseverance. You have to have really good self-esteem to constantly ask people for help and ask for money. Sometimes a lot of people say no. But when you do get those wins, bringing it back to your team and being able to communicate that and support everybody, being the cheerleader of the organization.