The Professional Development Playbook

This toolkit will help advancement shops improve major gift officer retention by offering ongoing fundraiser training so they can develop new skills.

Advancement shops work hard to train their fundraisers when they're first hired—and then stop. 79% of the MGOs we interviewed for our Gifted and Talented research project rated professional development as an important or very important factor in their decision to join their current institution, but most professional development opportunities stop at the end of onboarding.

To prevent their MGOs from leaving, advancement shops need to provide continuous and ongoing opportunities for professional development. This toolkit and the related resources have been designed to help chief advancement officers and directors of strategic talent management develop and refine existing professional development programs to ensure that they include three imperatives:

Equip managers Diagnose skill gaps Deploy high-impact skill building Imperative 1: Equip managers

Traditionally, senior leaders, managers, and fundraisers neglect professional development because it is detached from both organizational and individual goals. Formalizing professional development raises it to a strategic priority and ensures it gets the attention it deserves. At the same time, managers and fundraisers require tools to hold conversations that are accountable and forward-thinking.

Step 1: Formalize professional development

Tool: Strategic Decision Guide Tool: The Talent Review Launch Guide Tool: Talent Review Leader Training Deck

Step 2: Facilitate talent conversations

Tool: Talent Review Critical Conversation GuideTool: Talent Review TemplateTool: Career Map Template Imperative 2: Diagnose skill gaps

Since advancement staff possess various levels of experience and skill, the status quo, one-size-fits-all professional development approach wastes time and provides little return. Advancement leaders can target professional development to fundraisers’ wants and needs by understanding the skill gaps and strengths among their fundraiser populations.

Step 3: Establish a…