Invest in Your Fundraisers

Chapter Leadership Brief 8.13.2020

By Craig H. Shelley, CFRE, Chapter Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Group

Fundraising is a difficult job.  It’s a lonely job.  It’s a misunderstood job (I’m pretty sure my Mom thinks I sell candy bars on the subway).  A lot has been written about why there’s so much turnover in our field and why there’s not enough talent to meet the need.  The problem is largely rooted in this simple fact - there are easier and more glamorous ways to make a living.  Which is why it is important for organizations to invest in their fundraisers.  Help them, help you, to paraphrase Jerry Maguire.

Pay fundraisers fairly.  Provide them the resources they ask for.  Listen to their advice.  Treat them as equals in importance alongside their program and operations focused peers.  Invest in their professional development.  Appreciate their remarkable efforts.

Nonprofits that do those six things attract and retain great fundraising talent.

I recognize I’m largely preaching to the proverbial choir here as our readership is mostly fundraisers.  But maybe you can share this with your executive director or CEO and help make the case on your behalf?  While you’re talking to them, a great place to start investing in you is to register you for access to Fundraising Day in New York.  This is the largest library of fundraising knowledge I’ve ever seen assembled and our need to uniquely deliver it virtually this year means you and your teams can access it anytime, anywhere, as often as you’d like wherever you’d like.