Jenna Pettinato is a Development Associate at Nellie’s Shelter in Toronto. Nellie’s was established in 1973 to provide shelter, education, and advocacy to women and children fleeing violence, poverty and homelessness. Today they operate a 36 bed shelter as well as community support & outreach programs that serve over 100 women per week. Jenna started with Nellie’s four years ago as a volunteer, then became a student intern, and eventually a full time employee on the Fundraising Team in June 2010.

What does a typical Thursday look like for you, starting from when you wake up – to heading to bed.
I usually wake up at 6:30am, and after hitting the snooze button as many times as possible, I shower, dress, do my hair and make-up, grab some breakfast and begin my commute into the city. I usually stop for a Starbucks on the way (a grande iced Americano keeps me sharp in the morning), and I’m at my desk by 9:00am.

The first thing I do at work is check e-mails and phone messages. I usually have messages from donors inquiring about making in-kind or financial donations so I’ll respond to those first.

Then I’ll update our website with news about our upcoming programs or events, or stories about our donors. We have so many amazing people hosting wonderful events to raise funds for Nellie’s and we really like to showcase their great work! Recently we had a 3-year old girl host a Lemonade Stand and she fundraised over $120 for our Summer Children’s Camp Program!

I usually break for lunch around 1:00pm and the awesome thing about Nellie’s is that all the staff eat lunch together. We’re like one big, happy family, and since everyone is an incredible cook, we often share our food which makes for a delicious lunch experience!

Thursdays is when I complete all my donor recognition pieces. This includes personalized thank-you letters and certificates. Acknowledging donors is a huge part of what I do. It’s important for people to know that we appreciate everything they do and that we wouldn’t be able to operate our programs and services without their support.

If we’re in the middle of applying for funding, I may spend the afternoon writing. When I write I need to be in the zone, so I usually work for 30 minute bursts at a time, take a 2 minute breather, stretch, grab coffee, and continue. I love writing and it’s one of the reasons I love this job so much. When I was younger I thought I’d be a journalist, then I got into Social Work and thought I’d spend my career helping people, but as a fundraiser I get to do BOTH! I get to write and help people at the same time…yup, my job is awesome.

On most Thursdays I finish work at 5:00, start my commute home at 5:30 and get home by 6:30. I’m a runner so if the weather is nice, I’ll go for a run after dinner.

When I get home, I’ll get on the computer, check my facebook, twitter, e-mail, see what’s new on mashable.com (best site ever), read a bit (I highly recommend Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” – it’s lol funny), and then I’ll head to bed.

What was your first job out of school?
After I finished my first degree at the University of Toronto I worked for the Peel Lunch and After School Program as a relief childcare staff. I finished my Social Work Degree at York University in April 2010, and started at Nellie’s in June.

What are the 3 skills you require most to do your job well?
1- Communication – communicating effectively about our programs, services, and events inspires people to give.
2- Time Management – I have a notepad on my desk that is also a calendar. I write EVERYTHING down to make sure that I don’t miss anything that needs to be done.
3 – Creativity – updating our website and designing our e-mail communications require creativity. We’re not the only women’s shelter and outreach organization in Toronto, so we it’s important we show people what makes Nellie’s unique!

What do you love most about your career?
There are so many things that I love about fundraising. I love working everyday with passionate, generous, wonderful people who care about making the world a better place. The staff I work with at Nellie’s are fiercely dedicated to their jobs, and work tirelessly with and on behalf of the women who come to us for help. Our donors are kind, compassionate people who choose to support the work we do through financial donations, in-kind donations, and hosting awesome fundraising events. One of the most amazing events hosted for us this year was GirlFight. GirlFight was an all-female boxing event created by Anna Von Frances of Pink Mafia. The event was an awesome showcase of female strength and power and we’re happy to announce there will be a GirlFight 2 coming up this fall!

I love fundraising because it’s a fast-paced field where innovation and creativity abound! We’re always thinking up new ways to communicate with our donors through e-mail, direct mail, and on the web.

The thing I love most about fundraising is that I get to make people feel good. The best description I’ve heard of this work is that fundraisers connect people to their dreams. We are the medium between what people see as unjust and wrong in the world, and what they can do to contribute towards making things better. Giving has a very practical benefit (it helps us run our programs and services) and it also has a very deep emotional or spiritual benefit that helps people actualize their passion, commitments, and dreams.

Do you have any warnings?
Fundraising for a non-profit is a lot of work. You’re often doing communication, public relations, proposal research and writing, and administration all at once. At Nellie’s our fundraising team is just me and our Development Manager and often times we’re both in to work early and leaving late to make sure that our deadlines are met and that our donors are satisfied. Although it’s a lot of work, it’s work that is tremendously rewarding and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

If you could try a different career for a year, what would it be?
I’d like to work for CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Service). I’m an information junkie and I love to know things that other people don’t! I am a very thorough researcher and I’m good at keeping secrets so I think I’d be a good fit.