Realign Gift Officer Metrics in the COVID-19 Era

Higher education has been strained by COVID-19 in unprecedented ways. Institutional leaders are being forced to slash budgets across the board after a decade of historic investment in advancement. Chief advancement officers are being left with limited resources and sky-high expectations to fill the institutional budget shortfalls caused by the pandemic.

Exacerbating the situation, advancement leaders anticipate that COVID-19 will continue posing a challenge to fundraising across FY2021. They have expressed fear that expectations from presidents and boards are unrealistic given the economic realities facing many donors. Across the sector, advancement leaders are asking what goals are reasonable for them to set for their teams, and which metrics to track to help them get there amidst a new landscape.