A question I get asked frequently is “how does someone get to be a philanthropy advisor?” and “how did I come to be one?” So I will explain my path and what I’ve learned from my research on other advisors.
My route into philanthropy advice
Although I did not realise it at the time, my journey into this profession started way back in my early twenties. My first job in the non-profit sector was as an advisor, working for Citizens Advice. I started as a volunteer advisor and then became paid to run advice services in mental health units and manage welfare benefits advice services.
My role as an advisor involved building rapport quickly, active listening, talking about money, and then helping someone achieve their goal. In this case it was usually helping them to improve their financial situation often by claiming state benefits (I am still very proud of my 100% record of my clients receiving Attendance Allowance). Although I no longer focus on state benefits, the skills I used then to build trusted relationships and help people to identify and realise their goals are exactly the same as I use now with my wealthy clients - there are just usually more 000s on the sums we are discussing.
Jump forward a few years - I moved from working in charities delivering services to grant making. This meant I gained experience in how best to support non-profits and allocate resources. Then, after 20 years managing funding programmes, I decided to make the leap into consultancy. Initially, I did not have a clear plan and I said yes to a variety of projects before realising that my skillset matched being a philanthropy advisor. And that is what I now do, and have done for the last 10 years – advising philanthropic families to move from intention to action and thereby channelling private funds to public good.
Other routes into philanthropy advice
Unlike other financial professions, there is no fixed career path into philanthropy advising. In the book I co-wrote with Professor Beth Breeze, the philanthropy advisors we interviewed came to their role from a range of occupations: major donor fundraisers, international development and charity workers, financial services professionals, and a career advisor. There are shifts towards the professionalisation of philanthropy advice, but currently there are no shared standards or codes of conduct, and the training and qualifications outside of the US are limited. For now, most philanthropy advisors learn on the job.
As most people want to know that they are doing the job well and developing their practice, there is a need for more support and training. Our book, Advising Philanthropists: Principles and practice and the course I co-created and teach on, Advising Donors at the University of Kent are both good places to start. Then, if you want to become a philanthropy advisor - and a good one - consider what you bring and what areas and skills you need to develop in (for example, knowledge of non-profits, or financial products, or impact, or how to facilitate conversations about wealth). You can then build your own personal development programme with relevant courses, mentors, and sources of information.
If you do become a philanthropy advisor, you will find it really rewarding. And hopefully you will be one of a growing number who together will support wealthy people to give, give well, and give more.