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Competency-Based Hiring Toolkit for University Advancement Leaders

Tools for recruiting transferable skills candidates to fundraising roles

Use the competency-based hiring toolkit for university advancement leaders to identify qualified transferable-skills candidates, attract them to your open positions, assess their competencies, and accelerate their time to productivity.

Fundraisers are essential to running a high ROI advancement shop. This toolkit will help your team find qualified candidates from out-of-industry with the competencies and skills necessary to succeed at fundraising.

Identify qualified transferable skills

As a leadership team, consider which transferable skills candidates would be a good fit for your division using the tools below. Having leadership partake in these exercises will establish the importance of hiring based on skills, not previous experiences alone.

Brainstorm key competencies and professions

Use this exercise to brainstorm necessary skills and relevant professions that qualify a candidate for a vacant position in advancement. Having a clear understanding of necessary skills and professions will assist talent management partners in rewriting job descriptions, conducting candidate searches, and interviewing.

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A compendium of transferable skills

Use the compendium to identify candidates that may be qualified for a role in advancement but that come from outside of the profession. This compendium was compiled by EAB with input from 200+ advancement leaders.

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Attract out-of-industry candidates to your open positions

Hiring out-of-industry candidates with the necessary skills to succeed in the role requires the advancement team to signal to the candidate they’re qualified for the position and spread the word about open positions. Use the tools below to make sure out-of-industry candidates apply for open positions.

Job description audit

Audit institutional job descriptions using the exercise to attract candidates based on their competencies, not just their prior experience in advancement. Adjust job descriptions to welcome candidates with the appropriate skills from out of industry to increase the number of qualified applicants.

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Vacancy announcement checklist

Use the job posting checklist to ensure advancement is posting vacancies in a systematic way. This will help more candidates see the posting.

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Manager email blast

Advancement hiring managers should use the template to ask managers in institutional partner units such as, admissions, athletics, marketing, and student affairs to identify top internal talent for open advancement position.

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Social media referral campaign strategy guide

Social media campaigns can be used to surface top talent in your employee networks. Using a referral campaign to attract transferable skills candidates can establish a level of trust with applicants on behalf of the institution through the referrer.

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Assess candidates' competencies

After candidates from out-of-industry apply for a role, use the tools below to assess if they have the skills to succeed in the role.

Candidate concierge launch guide

Designate a candidate concierge in your office to serve as the primary point of contact for candidates interviewing. This person should guide each candidate through their interview process while highlighting selling points of the institution that candidates from out of industry may be unaware of.

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Candidate prewire email template

The email below serves as a template to inform candidate interviewees about their time on campus or interviewing online. Clearly communicating this information will make candidates from out of industry feel welcome and comfortable if they have to navigate a complex campus.

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Interview evaluation matrix competency assignments

Use the matrix below to help coordinate which interviewer will assess the various competencies a candidate must have to succeed in the role. After completing the matrix, hiring managers can use the staff prewire email template to communicate with interviewers what competencies they should assess.

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Staff prewire email template

Use the email template below to prepare interviewers. Sending an email prior to the candidate’s interview will assist interviewers with assessing the pre-assigned competencies.

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Competency question bank

Hiring managers, interviewers, and recruiters should use the competency question bank below, designed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Resource Development team. During interviews, individuals conducting the interview can use the questions below to assess particular competencies outside of fundraising.

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Reference check question bank

Use this resource to ensure consistency across all candidates when doing reference checks. Use the template below to help hiring managers select questions that they can ask references. Providing a question bank will ensure consistency across candidates regardless of fundraising experience.

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Star file excel spreadsheet

Keep track of qualified candidates to help advancement have a constant flow of prospective applicants when a vacancy becomes available. Consider tracking candidates that didn’t accept an offer, made it to the final interview round, or that were qualified for another job in advancement, but not the one they originally applied to.

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Learn how you can get access to this resource as well as hands-on support from our experts through Advancement Advisory Services.

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