If you have a degree, diploma, or certificate in a subject, in what year did you earn it?

Perhaps it was five, 10, maybe even 20 years ago. Do you have full faith that everything you learned during the coursework to earn it is still entirely up-to-date?

Think about what has changed in the past three years in the fundraising world—A LOT.

When you earn a degree, diploma, or certificate, it can become outdated faster than you can say, “Let’s just re-use our 2019 fundraising strategy for this year.”

Allowing your fundraising knowledge and skill set to grow stale can be problematic, to say the least.

Stay sharp

That’s precisely why the CFRE requires recertification every three years. As part of the recertification, you must complete 45 points in education, a healthy prompt to ensure you continue participating in fundraising training to stay current.

Imagine if a person earned their CFRE in 2003 and never did a shred of fundraising professional development afterwards. Would you trust they had the most current skill set? Were equipped to lead your fundraising department through the peaks and valleys that challenge every nonprofit? Yeah…not likely.

Often, CFREs tell us that completing the required continuing education requirement is a key part of staying razor sharp in the profession.

“Recertifying makes clear that continual learning and staying adept at what is new and important in my chosen field matters to me. It demonstrates that I am fully committed to adhering to a high standard for myself and the nonprofit sector,” says Amie Bossi, MPPA, CFRE.

Maintaining the CFRE is a point of pride for many certificants and enables them to continue bringing the highest level of service to their teams, donors, and organizations.

Questions about recertification? Contact succeed@cfre.org.