By Shana Melnysyn
By the time Jill McDonough was about halfway through her PhD in English at the University of Michigan, she realized that she didn’t want to be an academic. She decided to persevere and complete the degree, and then began networking extensively by conducting informational interviews with people in a range of professions that interested her. Through these interviews, she decided to pursue a career in public relations for nonprofits because she could apply her communication and “people” skills to organizations that were mission-driven. Her first job was in public relations at the local United Way, but she quickly became interested in fundraising because “that’s where the impact is—working with donors who want to make a difference”. Her next job was at the Michigan Theater, and after eleven years of successful fundraising there, McDonough decided she was ready for a new challenge. Through the networks she cultivated in the Ann Arbor and University communities, she learned about an opening at the Rackham Graduate School where she continues to work today as the Director of Development and Alumni Relations.
Early in her career, McDonough faced the challenge of convincing employers outside the academy that she had relevant, transferable skills that would benefit their workplaces. She eventually learned that her PhD was “a key to the club” in her capacity as a fundraiser in higher education, helping her to build trust with donors. McDonough’s doctoral training in English had taught her to be particularly sensitive to audience in written and oral communication. Teaching helped her develop an ability to relate to different kinds of people: “You have to be a careful listener. You have to be able to ask good questions, which assumes a natural inherent curiosity about whoever is in front of you—be they a student in a freshman composition class, or a donor who’s thinking about their philanthropic journey.”
In addition to the ability to connect with people, ask thoughtful questions, and cultivate meaningful relationships, McDonough says that humanities PhDs demonstrate a high tolerance for ambiguity which enables them to work through problems, especially when solutions aren’t readily apparent. “Donors are passionate about their favorite causes, but they aren’t always clear about how their money can best serve those causes. I once worked with a donor who had been making small gifts to a particular area at U-M, but he could’ve given much more. I suggested several ideas based on what I thought I knew about his interests, but nothing seemed to inspire him. Finally, after a lengthy conversation with a lot of probing questions and iterative reflection, he articulated a much stronger commitment to a completely different area at U-M. His giving increased dramatically and he’s much more engaged now.”
In the course of pursuing original research and writing a dissertation, PhD students learn to be patient and to focus, and those skills are equally valuable in development work. “At a large institution like U-M, where it’s common to work with individual donors for months or years before they make a gift, the ability of a gift officer to be patient and stay focused is really important. Grad school was a pretty arduous experience for me, and it was only after I was out for a few years that I realized that my doctoral training taught me a lot about the art of perseverance and the reality of delayed gratification. Those are lessons I still draw on after thirty years in development.”