The Missing Piece of the Puzzle

What if we’re approaching things all wrong by providing training in fundraising tactics?  What if what we really need to be teaching in order to help development officers be successful is how to identify and bring about cultural changes that are conducive to better fundraising?

I keep going back to the Underdeveloped study released in 2013.  According to the study (and if you haven’t already read it, do yourself a favor and download it today!) there are two areas that contribute to the short tenures of development officers today.  One is a lack of skilled or experienced candidates.  This is exacerbated by the low salaries that many small nonprofits offer.  Makes sense, and relatively straightforward to address. 

But the other?  The “conditions necessary for success”?  Some pieces are easy, some are really hard.  These include:

a.       Lack of development infrastructure and systems

b.       Lack of participation of the ED and board in fundraising

c.       No culture of philanthropy (stewardship, understanding the fundraising process)

d.       Development officer not involved in setting revenue goals

Of all of these, infrastructure and systems are the easiest to tackle.  Do you have fundraising software?  If not, get some!  There are lots of reasonably priced products on the market today.  Do you have a written fundraising plan?  No?  Either write one, or hire a consultant to write one for you.  A fundraising plan will help you prioritize your fundraising activities and will give you something to measure against and build on from year to year.

That leaves b, c, and d.  When it comes down to it, these are all cultural.

As a development officer, you can hopefully prevent getting into a toxic work situation by asking insightful questions during the interview process, and not letting your enthusiasm for the new job (or desperation to get away from the old job) cloud your ability to identify red flags. 

As an executive director, you can increase the likelihood of attracting and retaining a talented fundraising professional by recognizing that there is a body of knowledge behind fund development and that your development officer likely knows more about it that you do.  Bring in a good person, and then get out of their way.  Be open.  Give them autonomy.  And please take a good hard look at your organization in the context of b, c, and d, and if they’re true of your organization, commit to working with your development officer to change that.  Only then will you be able to reach your full potential as a nonprofit organization.