As institutions navigate the pandemic and its aftermath, fundraising is a more critical strategic priority than ever. Over the past decade, tuition and fee revenue growth stagnated while fundraising grew 58%. Pressure on advancement leaders is only set to increase, as 91% of presidents have pinpointed fundraising as a strategic priority.
This heightened pressure is coming at a time when advancement leaders are already struggling to keep shops fully staffed. From May 2021 to June 2022, the median institution surveyed by EAB had a vacancy rate of 14%.
This study outlines three steps to reduce the risk of losing philanthropic revenue during the talent crisis. Advancement leaders must develop new recruitment strategies, ensure major gift officers (MGOs) work efficiently, and retain remaining staff.
1. Develop a steady talent pipeline by hiring from outside advancement
With sky-high demand for fundraisers, there are not enough experienced candidates to fill all open positions. Fortunately, advancement shops can sidestep the fundraiser talent crisis by systematically seeking out-of-industry candidates. Many job seekers are willing to change industries—53% of adults who quit a job in 2021 say they changed their field of work.
Transferable-skills candidates (TSCs) who come from out-of-industry bring skills and competencies from related fields that make them a great fit for fundraising. Some transferable skills include relationship building, negotiation, ability to close, communication, and project management. Advancement shops can increase their talent pool by capitalizing on job seekers changing careers and recruiting those with an aptitude for fundraising.
Overcome common challenges and successfully hire TSCs
2. Increase efficiency by realigning MGO efforts to high-ROI activities
Once a reliable talent pipeline is developed, ensure current MGOs focus on high-ROI activities. On average, MGOs bring in less fundraising revenue than colleagues in planned giving, CFR, and principal gifts. Furthermore, divisional underperformance is not always obvious because top performers tend to carry the team and mask inefficiencies within fundraiser ranks.
Gift officers frequently rewrite the cultivation strategy for each prospect instead of scaling strategy for multiple prospects. The result is long cultivation timelines, wasted time on trial and error for each prospect, and fewer gifts closed.
Further, deans often ask MGOs to handle engagement tasks, such as writing newsletters, that reduce fundraising capacity. These tasks should instead be allocated to an engagement or alumni relations staff member to free up fundraiser time to focus on prospect cultivation.
Streamline cultivation and free up MGO time
3. Retain fundraisers by adding support staff and offering remote work
Finally, maximize fundraiser ROI by avoiding losing fundraisers in the first place. While fundraiser retention is a top priority among advancement leaders, most shops struggle to retain fundraisers.
An investment in support staff improves fundraisers’ quality of life on the job by providing critical infrastructure to increase fundraising production. Advancement leaders should promote retention by ensuring their staffing ratio includes enough strategic support staff.
Advancement leaders should also implement a hybrid or remote work policy to remain a competitive employer. With flexible work options now so prolific, a hybrid or remote option is quickly becoming a minimum requirement to retain staff. 46% of U.S. workers say they would take a pay cut to continue to work remotely at least part-time, and 76% of millennials say they prefer a hybrid or remote working pattern.
Review best practices for scaling up strategic support staff
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