By: Casey Therrien, CFRE, Associate Director of Philanthropy at Triangle Land Conservancy
My top strength is an achiever. I like setting goals, personally and professionally, and becoming a CFRE was one of them. In March 2023, I finally achieved that goal, but it wasn’t easy. The first time I sat for the exam in early 2021, the power went out at the testing facility. The second time, I learned the night before that my mom was dying of cancer and going on hospice, and I didn’t have time to reschedule. She died a few days later in June 2021.
But when I got the test results this third time and saw that I passed – I cried. No, I ugly cried – full on sobbing in the testing center hallway, doubled over the bench, dry heaving. I cried because I finally did it. But I also cried because I couldn’t call my parents to tell them the good news (my dad died in 2017). I like to think they would have been so proud of me – but I was proud of me. My husband and in-laws were proud of me, and so were my friends and colleagues. Certainly, the power outage and my grief impacted my ability to pass the exam the first two times, but for this third time around I changed my study habits. I joined Jack Alotto’s free CFRE study group, (the next one meets on July 13th), and formulated my own study group TAMI, and we met every Thursday for three months. I adore Jack and TAMI so much – we were able to work through the who, what, why, and how – the four key things to know and learn about when studying for the exam, and I created a huge support group who cheered me on throughout this process – and we’re still friends to this day a year later.
Would I still be a good fundraiser and good at my job if I failed a third time, heck yes, I would be! You can be the best fundraiser out there and NOT have a CFRE, and that’s okay. If you choose to sit for the exam, figure out what works best for you studying wise – but what worked for me was joining Jack’s group and being with folks who held me accountable. Those four letters after my name mean a lot to me, but with or without them, I’m still a kickass fundraiser.
