Author: Association of Fundraising Professionals

This Participant Manual/Self-Study Guide is designed to help you review the knowledge, skills and abilities that a development professional with five or more years of fundraising experience should possess. Through textual material, examples, case studies and review questions, the manual will guide you through the AFP Course material, reinforcing the information you already have, expanding on other less familiar concepts, and helping you identify topics for which you may need to acquire more knowledge.

The Self-Study Manual is comprised of 8 lessons:
1. Laying the Foundation for Fund Development (planning, marketing, communications)
2. Defining an Integrated Development Program (definition of annual giving, capital giving, planned giving; gift processing and reporting, office operations and ethics) 3. Making the Case (case statements)
4. Volunteers and Staff: Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships (volunteer recruitment; governance vs. administration)
5. Managing Information About Prospects and Donors (research, stewardship)
6. Annual Giving and Fundraising Methods (telephone and direct mail solicitation, soliciting organizations and individuals, seeking grant support, special events, annual giving development planning)
7. Planned Giving (types of planned gifts, donor recognition)
8. Capital Giving (campaign planning, media relations)

The manual is designed to provide an overview of fundraising skills, techniques and program components; it is not intended to be a tutorial review for the CFRE Professional Certification Board's Certified Fund Raising Executive examination.