Covering everything from strategic fundraising planning skills to team management, it enables dedicated educational programmes to be established that support fundraising professionals on their leadership journey, helping them develop, and be assessed on, the skills and competencies required to lead and manage a successful and contemporary fundraising operation.

The Advanced Competence Framework handbook and application form are now available in the Certification section of the EFA site.

Speaking on the launch, EFA president Charlotte Rydh said:

“Many of the fundraisers that have completed an EFA Certified Standard Competence qualification (as well as other fundraising professionals) are now ready to move into leadership and are looking for training to support them in making this move a success. The EFA Certification Advanced Competence Framework has been developed to help fundraising associations and educational providers meet this need. We look forward to certifying the first qualifications!”

EFA has also launched the third edition of the EFA Certification Standard Competence Framework handbook. Revised and updated, it focuses on the fundraising competencies required in the standard EFA Certified fundraising qualification, together with guidelines for delivery and assessment.

The Standard Competence Framework has been providing fundraisers with a professional qualification recognised both across Europe and internationally since 2007. To date, over 6,250 fundraisers across 14 countries have completed an EFA Certified qualification.

EFA Certification is a framework for national fundraising qualifications, enabling fundraising associations and educational providers to develop their own qualifications around a common set of fundraising competencies. Once approved by EFA’s certification committee, they become accredited qualifications, recognised internationally.

The Advanced Competence Framework was first unveiled at September’s Certification Symposium, and officially launched at the 2022 EFA Skillshare at the end of November.

Picture: Amy Hirschi on Unsplash

CFRE International is an independent nonprofit organisation with the mission of setting standards in philanthropy through a valid and reliable certification process for fundraising professionals. The Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential is currently held by more than 7,800 fundraising professionals in 25 countries. Twelve of those countries are in Europe.

The meeting’s 24 attendees included fundraising experts as well as the CFRE International staff and board. Together, the group lent their knowledge of the sector and credentialing to chart a course for CFRE International’s growth strategy over the next five years.

“Having EFA at the table lent our discussions additional depth and context,” said CFRE International President and CEO Eva E. Aldrich, Ph.D., CAE, (CFRE, 2001-2016). “We tremendously value our relationship with EFA and its second-to-none insight into the current European fundraising landscape.”

Rydh joined five other representatives from across Europe: from the Netherlands Henk Smit; from Germany Becky Gilbert, CFRE, and Astrid von Soosten, CFRE; and from the UK Graham Papenfus, CFRE, and Phillip Rothwell, MBA, CFRE.

These six participants contributed their knowledge of Europe’s unique nonprofit sector to the discussions. Over two days, attendees worked together to strengthen global philanthropy through ensuring the CFRE remains a leading credential for fundraising professionals across the world.

Commenting, Rydh said:

“It was an honour to attend CFRE International’s strategic planning meeting in person. At EFA we share the same mission of advancing the fundraising profession and keeping standards high through our own Certification framework. With so much in common and a strong history of collaboration, we were delighted to be able to feed in to this important conversation around CFRE credential’s continued growth both in Europe and globally.”

EFA and CFRE International have partnered to advance fundraising as a profession since 2016.

Traditionally, CFRE International held its strategic planning meeting every five years. Originally slated for 2020, the meeting was delayed by two years due to the pandemic. Since the two organisations’ collaboration began, this year marked EFA’s first opportunity to join the in-person conversation around the CFRE credential’s continued growth in Europe and globally.