5 More Reasons that Good Fundraisers Leave

Money can't fix culture.

"Even if they doubled my salary," a development leader told me recently, "I still wouldn't stay." She was on her way out, and I had simply asked what they could do to keep her. Offer her a raise?

Sure, a lot of development leaders could stand a raise. But often when fundraisers leave organizations they care about, it has little to do with compensation. That's why I'm sharing a list of common reasons - besides compensation - that good fundraisers leave organizations that they care about.

If you missed it, you can find Part One of the list here. Here are five more:

6. "My supervisor or Board has unrealistic expectations for year one."

Experienced development professionals know that good fundraising is relational, not transactional. And simply put, relationships take time to cultivate. We intentionally use a gardening word for what good fundraisers do. To cultivate is to patiently prepare the land so that it yields a crop in due time. Fruit takes time. Relationships take time. And to put it bluntly, big money takes time.

Fix: especially if a gift officer is building (or rebuilding) a portfolio, adjust your expectations for what can be accomplished in the first year. Measure and incentivize based on metrics other than dollars accrued, like number of donor visits, and the content/quality of those conversations.

7. "My supervisor keeps changing goals and expectations on me."

An ever-changing goal is a sign of erratic leadership and frankly, that's scary to a fundraiser. I often see leaders make reactionary goals. It's tempting when times are tough and the money seems lean to up the goals for the development staff in the fourth quarter. 

And while good fundraisers often love stretch goals and can rise to a challenge, if the goal line is always shifting based on which Board member the supervisor met with most recently, that's a sign of unhealthy leadership and leads to confusion and fear in the development staff.

Fix: set goals and stick to them for the season/quarter/fiscal year, regardless of what an outspoken Board member or other outside influencer may say. 

8. "We lack basic support systems for fundraising."

This may seem like a small issue, but I have talked to fundraisers ready to throw in the towel because the structures around them seem to be working against the development staff instead of with them, and they've lost hope that things can change.

What kind of support structures? When the database is in shambles and donor records are out-of-date or inaccurate, or the marketing and promotional materials are not there, or worse, are an embarrassment to the image of the organization, it seriously makes good fundraisers think of taking their talents elsewhere.

Fix: at review time seriously ask your development staff what they need in order to do their jobs better. Listen and then take the time (and money!) to make the corrections you can.

9. "Bureaucratically, our office culture is too rigid."

I've talked to many a good fundraiser who is simply exhausted. They would love more time with their donors or more time mentoring and guiding the staff under them, but feel like too much of their time is taken up with overlong and poorly managed meetings or filling out one more report to send up the food chain.

Fix: are you wearing your development staff out with non-mission critical tasks that ultimately suck their time and energy away from donors or their own staff? Comb through your schedule of internal meetings and reporting structures to see what unnecessary meetings and redundant tasks can be pruned.

10. "I feel uneasy about how donor dollars are being spent."

Fundraisers have shared with me two versions of this problem. The first is an apparent extravagance of spending on unnecessary accoutrements that make the lives of only the executive leadership more comfortable. 

The second version is more problematic: organizations taking donor dollars for one purpose and using them for another. And I'm not talking here about redirecting unrestricted funds to address a more pressing need. I'm talking about when an organization's leaders lie to donors about where their dollars are going or take a gift designated for one purpose and use it for another. 

This is unethical and undermines the credibility of our entire sector. And unfortunately, it happens. When good fundraisers see this in an organization, they are right to want to get out, and get out quickly.

Fix: sadly, I don't know a fix for unethical leadership - besides a train wreck - but by then it's often too late.

What about you? What's your story? Have you seen an organization turn their culture around and thus grow their fundraising capacity? I'd love for you to share your insights in the comments below.