Here we go again. There is yet another report about the high turnover rate among fundraising professionals.
According to a Harris Poll study conducted for The Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, more than half of the fundraising professionals in Canada and the USA that were surveyed say they plan to leave their job within the next two years. Among respondents, 30 percent say they plan to leave the fundraising profession altogether by 2021.
The ongoing high turnover rate among fundraising professionals is costly to nonprofit organizations. There is the cost of hiring and training new staff. There is also the enormous cost associated with the loss of continuity and the abandonment of relationships with prospects and donors.
Social media and the blogosphere have been reacting to the new report. For example, Roger Craver, at The Agitator, offers a well-done summary of the data and shares some additional resources exploring the problem. Unfortunately, much of the discussion I’ve seen overlooks what I view to be the real problem that allows high fundraising staff turnover to continue. Let me explain.
Soon after becoming a fundraiser, I began hearing talk about the problem of high staff turnover. That was back in 1980. Many causes were identified. Many solutions were offered. Sadly, nothing substantive has changed over the intervening four decades. Nothing! NOTHING! N-O-T-H-I-N-G!
I’m fine with surveys that continue to point to the turnover issue. I’m fine with many proposed solutions to the situation. However, do not expect me to believe anything will actually change.
As I see it, with the benefit of four decades of experience, the biggest ongoing problem with fundraiser retention is a near complete lack of will, on the part of nonprofit boards and C-level staff, to fix the situation. If that nonprofit cultural flaw remains unaddressed, those working in the nonprofit sector will likely continue having the same conversation over the next four decades.
Only after there is a willingness to improve the situation can we begin to address issues including: compensation, proper planning and goal setting, appropriate expectations of fundraising professionals, humane work conditions, proper staffing levels, professional development, and more.
Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA, President and CEO of AFP, says:
I am very concerned about the levels of pressure that fundraisers feel in their jobs. Despite the different kinds of support that many fundraisers feel from their organizations, being in a role where a charity depends so much on your work—that brings an incredible and unique level of stress. We need to look at all the issues involved—resources, staff, culture, and leadership and management, to name just a few—and develop programs that reach out to organizational leaders and help them understand how to best support fundraisers.”
To solve any problem, one must first identify the problem. When it comes to fundraiser turnover, we have long known there is an issue. I’ve known about the problem for nearly 40 years, and I suspect the problem existed long before that. However, I submit that that is not THE problem. THE problem is leadership’s lack of willingness to do anything significant about the high turnover rate. So, how do we address THAT problem? Until we do, any other discussion on the subject of fundraiser turnover is nothing but spitting into the wind.
In other words, the question should not be: How to we reduce the high turnover rate among fundraising professionals? Instead, the correct question to ask is: How do we get nonprofit boards and C-level staff to commit themselves to finally address the turnover problem?
What recommendations do you have for how the nonprofit sector can, at long last, address this decades-long problem?
That’s what Michael Rosen says… What do you say?
Michael Rosen Says... 