In my last post I focused on what qualities managers had to embody in order to keep good people. Many of you have commented, lamenting some of the horrible management problems you have encountered.
Richard and I agree that without a solid foundation of vision, mission, leadership and management, the non-profit will not be able to retain good development staff. They may serve a great cause, but if the fish is rotten at the head…
Today, I want to focus on you, the MGO. A few people who read a statement I made in my first post commented that they were upset that I rarely put someone’s resume in an interview pile if I see they’ve jumped ship every two years. They pointed out that there may be some good reasons why someone leaves.
I’m not denying that. But as a manager who is looking for good people, loyalty is one quality that candidates will be evaluated on. So, if you have two resumes in your hand and one has been with two organizations in the last 15 years and another has been with six or seven… who would you look at first?
Instead of getting defensive, I ask that you open your mind and heart when you read this post and let it speak truth to you.
As an MGO, here are some areas for you to consider in order to make your job tenure longer than 2.3 years.
- Examine yourself—Take some time, really be honest and ask yourself, “Is being a major gift officer something I should be doing? Does it fit my skill set? Do I really have a passion for helping others give away their money? Am I passionate about this kind of work? If I could make more money doing something else, would I do it?“ These are important questions that Richard and I believe MGOs fail to ask themselves, either before they get into the profession or in the middle of their career.
- Interview the organization before you make a commitment to it. — We know there are many cases in which MGOs have taken a job just because it was a job and they needed something desperately. We get that. But I’m amazed at how many MGOs started with an organization and failed to ask any REAL questions in their interview process. I believe a key element of MGO retention is the work the MGO does in his own interview process. Remember, management is supposed to be doing their job to see whether you are a good fit or not. YOU need to do the same thing with the organization. Related to #1 above, in examining yourself, you also need to have a clear idea about what type of manager you can best work with, what type of organization and mission you can be passionate about and what kind of culture you want to work in. Richard and I don’t think MGOs do enough of this work beforehand, so they jump into a position that sounds good and pays a little more, then later find out this is not a good match.
- Are you Donor-centered and YOU-centered? — Being an MGO takes great balance. You need to always take care of yourself (mind, body and spirit), but you also need to be donor-centered. Many times when I’ve interviewed MGO candidates who have moved around with several different organizations, I hear from them that they have “left for $5,000 more a year”, or that “this organization had a better health plan”, or “that organization had more donors.” They sound very focused on the “ME”. But when you think about major gifts and how long the process can take to build relationships with donors, leaving every couple of years never allows you to build up enough trust in a donor to secure those six and seven figure gifts. MGOs who have stayed with organizations for a long time tell me they could never have brought in multiple million dollar gifts had they stayed for only a couple of years. Great MGOs know it takes a lot of time and effort to make those kinds of gifts happen.
- Why are you not satisfied? — Whenever I personally get anxious about something, I’ve learned to stop and ask myself why I’m feeling this way. That little step has been incredibly helpful for me and has saved me from doing some stupid things. It’s really easy to blame everything outside of yourself for your feeling of discontent. And, some of those outside factors may be legitimate, but before you go down that road, I would ask you to examine what it is within you that isn’t being satisfied and is causing you to move on to the “next best thing?” Many MGOs I’ve met, who have been with multiple organizations over the years, have told me if they could turn back time they would not have “jumped ship” so often. They realize it actually isn’t that much better somewhere else. Often it was something within themselves that caused them to be discontent.
I want to be clear. The “attrition problem” of development professionals does not have one clear answer or solution. It’s not JUST a management problem or an MGO problem. There has to be ownership from both sides.
I know there are some MGOs who are really in some awful situations right now. You might be really struggling. Richard and I would like to know how the content of this post resonates with you. What has been your personal career journey that you can share with the rest of the Passionate Giving community to help them in their own journey?
We welcome your feedback and comments.
Jeff
Links:
Series intro
#1 What Can Managers Do?
#3 What About the Donor?
![Hiring concept vector image of candidates. [Top Tips from a Recruiting Expert on Hiring Your Next Frontline Fundraiser]](https://veritusgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/AdobeStock_427200891-scaled.jpeg)
Excellent post, again Jeff. It’s often easier to see the failings in others than in ourselves. I have to say, I wish I’d known your blog before I started in this role, but it has helped me to see how to do it better.
The point about interviewing the organization is crucial. I’ve attended interviews in the past where I’ve sensed a defensiveness about questions I’ve asked – these are not interviews I’ve been successful in getting the role, but after the interview, I wouldn’t have accepted the role anyway.
I’ve found that trying to focus on the things inside your loci of control, rather than those external can ease dissatisfaction. Following tips from your blog, I’m managing my processes better, and getting batter at what I do. After almost 2 years, I’m just beginning to develop the kinds of relationships I need to secure the scale of gifts I want to be doing, which currently overrides the factors making me look at leaving. Like you say – the grass isn’t always greener, and meeting informally with MGOs in other organisations suggest that at least half of the ‘challenges’ in my organisation are common to many.
Robert, thank you for your thoughtful comments and your kind words. I think you’ve stated this beautifully and you’ll be successful as an MGO. Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing your story.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
I appreciate your series. I read recently the “average” job in the U.S. is currently 3.2 years in length, with an “average” adult changing jobs 14-16 times in their working lifetime. But, I understand you are striving to find “exceptional” people when you are part of a hiring process.
When I first came across the 2.3 year stat on your blog a few months ago, I had a little different impression. The first thing I thought was that length of time seems to coincide with a reasonable period of performance review. Since the first year spent at a new MGO position is often comprised of organization acclimation, initial donor case buidling and existing donor relationship building, perhaps it is only into the second year on the job that both the MGO and the organization gets any real feel as to whether the MGO is getting any solid fiscal traction.
If either party – or both – concludes they are not, the 3 or 4 months into year three might represent the time required to decide to make a change and then execute it.
Just a thought!