From Community Organizer to Big-Time Fundraiser

As it built a major-gifts program over the past 15 years, the Sierra Club made a point to find fundraising talent from within the organization — and not always in the development office. Juana Torres, 33, worked eight years as a community organizer for the group before she was tapped as associate advancement director for the Southwest region, one of the organization’s nine frontline fundraisers.

Early career: With a double major in political science and environmental science from California Lutheran University, Ms. Torres went on to earn a master’s in public policy and set her sights on working in environmental protection. “I didn’t even know that fundraising was a career option,” she says.

Grass-roots work: After college, she landed at the Sierra Club as an organizer, whipping up public support for protecting the San Gabriel Mountains outside Los Angeles. “I spent a ton of time with people, organizing volunteers, taking people out to places we wanted to protect, explaining the legislative process.”

View on fundraising then: “It was so foreign — ‘How do I ask for money?’ It was scary.”

Turning point: A gift officer began taking Ms. Torres on donor visits to talk about the San Gabriels. She soon realized she was closing his deals. “I was the one telling the story, and I was the one motivating the donor about the work that was happening.” When the gift officer left the organization, he encouraged her to apply for his job.

Today: Ms. Torres manages six-figure gifts and a portfolio of 50 to 75 core donors. Her biggest gift so far: $250,000.

View on fundraising now: Ms. Torres says raising money is not very different from her community-organizing work. In both instances, she’s telling a story to inspire people to act. “Instead of asking people to volunteer or take an action on legislation, I’m asking them for money.”