You’ve stretched your budget to get the most qualified
development director you can afford; now how do you keep her? The answer is invest. You may not have
thousands of dollars to pay for an individual coaching program, but there are some
low-cost items you can make available that will help you retain and grow your development
staff.
First off, how about a book budget? For $100 or $200 each year, your development
director can begin to build a decent library of books to learn about the latest
trends and best practices in fundraising, or to build her skills in an area
where she may not have as much experience.
If an annual membership to a professional fundraising
association is out of reach (in my area these can run in the $250 to $325 range),
how about setting aside money to cover the cost of attending a few meetings as
a non-member ($25 to $50 per meeting)?
That way your staff member can choose the 2-3 meetings whose topics are
most relevant for them, and still get the benefits of increased knowledge and
peer networking that these meetings provide.
NOTE: This strategy only works if you also make it possible for them to
spend a couple hours out of the office!
Lastly, there are an increasing number of webinars and
e-courses on topics from major gifts to grant writing to fundraising
planning. Ask your development director
to review their current job description as it compares to their past work experience
and skill set, and come up with one or two priority areas for this year’s
professional development. Most of these
programs are priced under $100, and if a recording is shared after the webinar,
other staff members can benefit from watching it too.
Strategically spending as little as $500 a year on
professional development will result in a development director who feels
valued, trusted, invested in, and committed to your cause. And if the ideas she learns from a book or
presentation or webinar help her inspire one $500 donor to increase their gift
to $1,000, then your investment will have paid for itself.
The longer your development director stays with your
organization, the deeper her relationships with board members and donors will
get, and the greater her capacity for raising significant funds will be. Sounds like a worthwhile investment to me.
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