Entry-level Positions for Aspiring Assistant Athletic Directors in Annual Giving
Numerous entry-level positions exist within collegiate athletics, starting with readily available student worker roles across various departments—a "great pipeline" for future employment. A career path might begin with internal operations roles, gradually progressing to external fundraising, where the focus shifts from "asking for money" to building relationships and connecting donors with impactful opportunities.
Entry-Level Positions, Networking, Fundraising, Higher Education, Athletics
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Mattie Fowler Burkhardt
Assistant Athletic Director - Annual Giving
University of Nebraska Athletic Department
University of Nebraska, 2015
MBA, University of Nebraska
Finance
Education, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking, Sports & Fitness
Sales and Client Management
Scholarship Recipient, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Many entry-level positions are available for undergraduates as student workers in various departments like development, ticket office, communications, equipment staff, social media, and graphic design. These roles offer valuable experience in a fast-paced environment.
2. Starting in an internal operations role before transitioning to external fundraising can ease entry into the field. This allows individuals to become comfortable with the environment and build confidence before directly soliciting donations.
3. Fundraising is about building relationships and connecting donors' passions with the organization's needs; it's more than just asking for money. The focus should be on storytelling and explaining how donors can make a difference and impact the organization
Transcript
What entry-level positions are there in this field that an undergraduate college student might consider?
Here's the cleaned transcript:
Number one is, if you're in college right now, or a high school student going to college, we have so many student workers. We depend on student workers so much and hire a ton of them because they are proven, informed, and already trained.
We have student workers in our development and ticket office, and in our communications and athletic departments. There are equipment staff students, and social media and graphic design students. We have a workforce of people passionate about athletics, who are just trying to get some college experience on campus.
This is a great place to start if you're in college and want good experience in a fast-paced environment. Even if you don't pursue this afterwards, it's a great experience. This is number one because we hire a ton of our students, and it's a great pipeline for us.
Then, there are entry-level positions. When I started in our athletic development office, I began as a Director of Operations. This role was more internally focused on the day-to-day, overseeing communications, marketing materials, and getting the team organized.
I was then promoted several times. I moved into more external-facing roles with some internal responsibilities. Starting as a fundraiser right away can be intimidating because you have to speak to people twice your age and ask them for money.
Sometimes, people can do internal responsibilities first to get comfortable with the landscape. My advice to those who say asking for money sounds scary is that it's not. It’s so much more than that; it's about the relationships you build.
It's about finding out what people are passionate about and explaining how they can make a difference. That's a natural conversation that continues to build. You explain how they can make an impact, which is what people want to do in life.
For me, it's fun because I'm a storyteller. I connect the dots between our needs and people's capacity. Then, we can have a really good thing going.