Why Fundraisers Aren't Invited to Career Day

Given the likelihood that I might have scared some of you away last week with a too long and rambling post, the goals this week are to be crisp, concise, and conversation-starting. 

"Half of Fundraisers in Top Job Would Like to Quit."  That's the headline screaming in my daily email from the Chronicle of Philanthropy this week.  Digging in to the article only proves more depressing:  one in three CEO's is at best "lukewarm" about their top fundraiser.  A two-way street of fundraising dissatisfaction.

This does not bode well for the future of philanthropy.   For giving to thrive, we need capable, committed, and satisfied development professionals who bring value to their organizations and who are valued.  It is time for some radical reformation in how we attract people to fundraising and how we train them to be successful.

I have not yet met anyone who announced in the fourth grade that he/she would become a fundraiser (and if you are out there, please speak up!).  Development professionals were not at my high school's career day and no one came to my small liberal arts college looking to hire the next great fundraiser.  In fact, most every one I know who works in fundraising came to it initially through a back door.  We wanted to work on a cause we believed in and the only jobs always available involved raising money (and usually six other tasks, too).  Or, we actually had another role in an organization but soon enough someone on the development side left and our friendly personalities ushered us to the fundraising desk. 

Some of us, myself included, are grateful for that happenstance, for it opened our eyes to a very inspiring and challenging career path.  But, as the Chronicle article highlights, it's a process that, in general, isn't working.

I see at least three key steps for ensuring we have a steady stream of smart, strategic and passionate people seeking out fundraising as a career: 

1) We must talk about philanthropy and fundraising with our kids. Exposure to philanthropy and its joy just might spark a fourth grader to realize that one path to changing the world is by getting involved in nonprofits and fundraising. 

2) Those of us who love being in this profession must talk about it more.  We have to find our way into career days or make sure our media outlets include stories of satisfaction from a job in development and philanthropy. For a profession so good at running campaigns, we haven't yet done a very good job inspiring people to CHOOSE our career.

3) We must ensure that our job descriptions are about more than meeting fundraising goals.  Think about most of the postings out there for development staff.  Unless you are already committed to the profession, they aren't all that enticing.  We do much more than raise money.  We need to make sure that our organizations recognize that and recruit people to jobs that "broker dreams" (ala Sissy Bouchard).

And, we must do more to support and train people when they first climb into that development officer's chair.  We need to go beyond fundraising workshops, conferences, and classes. 

First, we need a concerted effort to create a mentorship program so every new development officer, rural or urban, from a big or small organization, has a chance to connect with a professional who loves his/her work. 

This past year I participated in an empowering mentoring program through AFP Washington. I was paired with a smart and savvy fundraising professional in Seattle and during our monthly phone calls we each learned from each other, sharing what's worked, what hasn't, what inspires us and what doesn't.  I'm a better fundraiser for that relationship and I'd like to think that if everyone just starting out could have such a support, we'd see so much less dissatisfaction.  Such programs exist, but they are small and voluntary and typically take a backseat in professional organizations to planning the next conference, workshop, or gathering.  Just like in fundraising, personal connections make a difference and mentoring programs deserve to be elevated in their importance.

Second, we need to try experimenting with other ways of building the fundraising capacity of nonprofit organizations.  My experience has been mostly in small and now rural organizations, so I'm thinking of them first and foremost here.  What if we experimented with actually placing a fundraising coach/mentor with a few organizations each year, rather than giving grants for trainings or projects?  I'm picturing a teach-them-to-fish-rather-than-giving-them-fish concept or a sort of loaned executive program. 

It takes going through a whole year to really understand how your organization and fundraising cycle works.  So, after carefully screening organizations for the basic foundations of potential, we could offer them a professional coach for a whole year.  The nonprofit's staff would do all the actual fundraising work, but they'd have a guide, a sounding board, a source of resources and experiences to help them plot their own best course.  Fundraising concepts and ideas are more likely to "stick" when they are directly relevant to your organization and you don't have to translate what you heard at a conference to your own day-to-day efforts.

I bet that after a year of support for the board and staff, the organizations would be more than ready to raise their own funds into the future.  Slowly, but deeply and surely, we'd actually change organizations' cultures and capacities for fundraising.  If we could do that, we'd make a big dent in the attrition and dissatisfaction that plagues our profession.  And, then, we can really start changing the world through philanthropy.

What do you think we need to do to recruit and retain more passionate, qualified, and inspiring people in fundraising?  Do you think we'll ever hear a fourth grader say "I want to be a fundraiser when I grow up?"