Stephanie Cesna works for America's Walk for Diabetes.
She has a COOL JOB as Fundraising Manager/Volunteer Coordinator.

"It was an incredible feeling to see the Walk participants in action - the pride in their eyes for raising incredible amounts of money in the fight against diabetes and their excitement to join hundreds of others who are as dedicated as they are to finding a cure. It was inspirational! It made all of my work pay off," Cesna said.

Her Gig:
Cesna was the Manager for America's Walk for Diabetes on October 8th in Chicago. Her job was to coordinate all the volunteers, setup registration booths, food tents, sponsor tents and rest stops during the walk. There were over 100 volunteers and over 1,000 participants in the walk. Cesna planned and prepared for this event for almost one year! She spent nine months as fundraising manager and she met her goal of raising $350,000!!!

A Day in the Life Of:
Imagine being the one person that people go to when they have a question about their job! On Walk day, that person was Cesna and EVERYONE had questions for her!! Her adrenaline kicked in around 2:30 am and kept going until mid-afternoon when the event was over. She rushed around all day making sure that everything was running smoothly. Two words to describe her job would be CONSTANTLY HECTIC!!

Setup: Started at 4:00 a.m. Food tents arrived and Cesna made sure they were put up in the correct spot. She also directed all the sponsors to their tents and gave an orientation training to the volunteers at the registration booths. She helped answer all their questions and made sure that everything went smoothly.

"The fun part is when the walkers start," Cesna said. But this is when her day was the busiest because many of the volunteers joined in on the walk so Cesna took over their volunteer duties. While the Walk took place, she worked on preparing the lunch booths so it was ready for the walkers as they finished. Cleanup: Was done by 1 p.m. "I was so impressed by the volunteers at the event. They gave their all - and more - to make the event run as smoothly as it did." After a day like that, Cesna said she is anxious to learn results, but relaxed for the first time in months. "I can savor success," she said.

How She Got That Gig:
"Fundraising is a very results driven field. People who hire fundraisers want to see that a person is motivated, energetic, and able to prove that they can meet, if not surpass, goals. Often you start at the bottom - possibly as an assistant. This may not sound too exciting, but the learning curve is amazingly fast and the potential to soak up good fundraising tips is incredible. At my previous job, I was initially just a volunteer coordinator. But I took an interest in the goals of the organization and made an effort to cooperate and assist the Director of Development. Eventually I was trained and promoted to Director of Public

Relations and Volunteer Development, and invited to participate in fundraising meetings and task forces. It was a spring board into this job."Whatever job you start at, make it clear that you have ambitions to move up and into fundraising. Ask for training opportunities, such as classes and seminars. If you don't tell them what you want and hope for, they will assume you are fine just staying where you are." Cesna said that the managing role for America's Walk was basically handed to her when she accepted the position. "I feel very lucky because I learned years worth of fundraising skills in less than 9 months."

Honor Role:
It takes about a year to plan and prepare for an event like America's Walk. Her goal was to raise $350,000 through the event and she surpassed that goal!

High Five:
"When the first walkers of the event returned to the start/finish line - and they were smiling and talking about a great walk."

Down Low:
"The car accident in the morning. Although it was not on event grounds nor did it involve anyone participating in the event, I was sad for the two people involved. I wish I could have done more to help - but they were in the capable hands of the police and medical personnel. No one was critically hurt." On the day of the Walk there was a car accident involving a passenger car and a truck that was carrying the portable toilets for the Walk grounds.

Wow!
Cesna started her day at 2:30 am and finished at 2:00 pm. She was in bed by 3:00!!

Education:
B.A. from St. Norbert College and Master in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis.

For More Information:
Diabetes.org