By Mike Bacon, CFRE
It takes time and hard work to find the right person to lead a nonprofit or to be a Director of Development. For any job search we conduct, we can receive as many of forty résumés, sometime more. Not surprisingly, we see some great résumés and some really poorly written ones.
What makes a great résumé is a topic for a future article. I want to focus now on the power of a good cover letter.
You might be shocked at how many résumés come attached to a two-sentence email. Clearly, some candidates feel that the short email constituted their cover letter. Yet that simple and seemingly expedient decision is a missed opportunity and potentially, a deadly mistake. Why does a cover letter matter?
- Many searches involve a committee of volunteers, usually called the Search Committee. These dedicated volunteers take their jobs seriously. They scour résumés for mistakes, errors and improper grammatical uses. They carefully read the cover letter, viewing it as evidence of a candidate’s writing prowess. A powerfully written cover letter provides proof of your ability to convey ideas and convince a target audience.
- Your cover letter and résumé will be compared to those of other candidates. If you have not written a strong cover letter, the Search Committee will view it as a weakness.
- Often, candidates are applying for a fundraising job but coming from a background or career that is not in the nonprofit sector or does not have a stated fundraising function. A cover letter is the only chance you have to make a compelling case for yourself. How have your past job experiences prepared you to do this new job? Can you emphasize your customer relationship background and draw comparisons to donor relationship management?
- Read the job description for the position carefully. Use the same verbs in your cover letter and share how your previous work is an exact match to the qualifications outlined in the job description.
Search committees (and search firms) are looking for reasons to either narrow down a large pool of applicants or to justify why a candidate should be interviewed in person.
You dramatically improve your chances of being in that set of candidates to be interviewed if you can skillfully use a cover letter to your advantage. Explain why you want this job, demonstrate your past achievements, and convince us of your ability to succeed in this new job. That’s what your cover letter can and should accomplish!