Who’s filling the demand for fundraisers who focus on big gifts?
The short answer: not enough people. With demand overwhelming supply, recruiters say, organizations need to get creative in finding people to tend their most generous donors.
How rigid should you be in demanding fundraising experience?
A willingness to bend can help unearth overlooked talent, says Marian Alexander DeBerry, director of executive search at Campbell & Company. “You have to decide whether you’re going to hire someone who brings skills and will become increasingly expensive, because other organizations will be competing with them,” she says. Or see if candidates without experience in asking for money might grow into the job.
What kinds of experience can prepare someone to ask for big gifts?
Communications professionals or program employees can sometimes fit the bill, says Ms. DeBerry. “Knowledge of the organization is a strong skill that people sometimes overlook,” she says. “Being able to represent and talk about the organization? Big factor, I think, in being a good major-gift officer.”
Early-career professionals without major-gifts experience — but with a knack for building relationships — can be good fits, says Heather Eddy, president of Alford Executive Search, a division of KEES. So can people from the financial services industry, such as insurance agents. “It’s a transferable skill set. They’re used to talking to people about their money and how to use it.”
“This isn’t one type of candidate who can fill these positions,” Ms. Eddy says. “It’s all over the place.”
Should you consider former charity leaders?
Yes. The candidates might come from either direction on the career ladder, says Ms. Eddy. Aspirants might seek the job as a steppingstone to gain experience cultivating wealthy supporters before they move up. And sometimes, she says, former directors of development are eager to discard some of their administrative responsibilities in favor of simply working directly with donors. “They’re saying, ‘This is the way to focus on what I most enjoy.’ "
What will this specialized fundraiser need?
A competitive salary, for starters — the market is red hot. They’ll want travel expenses covered so they can meet with far-flung supporters, and they’ll want to have the research support to help them zero in on the right people, says Ms. Eddy. “It’s one thing to say, ‘We have 10,000 donors’ and another to say, ‘We have 10,000 donors, and we’ve run them all through wealth screening, so we can help you prioritize.’ "
Most of all, the new hire will want to mine the base of existing donors. Smaller charities in particular, Ms. Eddy says, sometimes don’t understand that major-gifts officers focus on persuading current supporters to dig deeper and don’t simply show up with a new list of wealthy people to tap.
What can we expect from the new fundraiser?
Probably less than your board might expect, at least in the first year or so. Attracting major gifts is a long-term endeavor, and unrealistic expectations can hobble it, recruiters say.
Part of keeping those expectations realistic is making sure the duties aren’t too much for one person, says Ms. DeBerry. Charity leaders and their new major-gift officers need to decide together how to set priorities for the role. “We’ve seen where you’ve added a major-gifts officer, and then they need to cultivate gifts, they also need to prospect research, they also need to build a database. It’s challenging for one person to do all that and do it all well.”
