Tessa Peterson, B.S. Public Relations, Minor: Marketing- December 2013
Current Position: Fundraising Coordinator/Champion Athletes of the Ozarks
Current City: Springfield, MO
May graduation is fast approaching and as upcoming graduates prepare their resumes and interview skills, 2013 graduate Tessa Peterson has some valuable advice: “Be open to jobs that don’t exactly fit your criteria. Putting yourself in a position to learn something new in the field only benefits you in the long run.”
Tessa began interning with Champion Athletes of the Ozarks during her last semester at MSU. Upon graduating in December 2013, she transitioned from “the intern” to the Fundraising Coordinator for Champion Athletes. “I had NO experience fundraising, and I’m no expert yet, but I have learned that it all fits together,” she said.
Formed in 2002, Champion Athletes serves children and adults with disabilities living in the Ozarks area. Champion Athlete’s enhances their athlete’s lives by building self-esteem, self-confidence and social skills through sports training and competition, necessary for progress towards normal living.
A big part of Tessa’s job is promoting fundraising campaigns through social media, something she got to practice in her marketing classes. “The No Kid Hungry campaign” I worked on in my Principles of Advertising class was a real example of a campaign design that I brought to my interview,” Tessa recalls.
“At Champion Athletes we entered a contest to win $10,000 where people voted for their preferred nonprofit through social media. We competed with ten other local charities, some being national organizations—like Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Without previous experience from those advertising campaigns I would not have been prepared to carry on a two week social media campaign, and we would not have won the $10,000. Talk about exhausting!”
Each semester, the Principles of Advertising and Advanced Advertising classes work with the Citizenship and Service Learning, or CASL, program to bring marketing solutions to various non-profits throughout the area. “CASL was a good example of gaining a better idea of what a prospective job would be like as well. Through CASL, Tessa also worked with the Discovery Center on implementing ways to create a more functional timeline calendar to prepare for future events and deadlines.
Perhaps the biggest thing Tessa has learned since graduating is that Marketing and PR go hand in hand. “Being a fundraiser you have to know how to effectively market not only your organization but also yourself. In fundraising, donors have to trust you and believe wholeheartedly in why you support the organization.”
Tessa has one last piece of advice: “Never quit learning. Don’t think, ‘Okay I just learned everything I need to know’ because in reality there is no limit to the things you can learn to better yourself as a professional and the organization you work for.”