Stop Treating Your Fundraisers Like They're Disposable

As I now have moved into my 60s, I have much more patience about things than I did when I was in my 30s or 40s… except a couple of big things—stupidity and injustice. Especially as it relates to how non-profits treat their fundraising staff. 

First, it’s a fact that most non-profits do not consider their staff as part of their mission. They look at them to get their “mission” done—i.e., the thing they are doing that is changing the world to make it a better place. 

What happens when you have this attitude toward your staff is that you believe people “owe” it to your organization to take lower pay, work longer hours, do work outside their description, and generally “give it up” for the “mission” of the organization.

The result? Burnout and high turnover rates. And, generally, where there should be joy in the workplace, there is anger and malaise. 

I’ve heard several stories recently where a non-profit has an exceptional major gift officer who is exceeding their revenue goals, building relationships with donors, and serving as a great example of the non-profit’s brand. Yet, because the organization doesn’t realize the value of these individuals and “can’t” pay them more for their efforts, all these major gift officers have left to pursue opportunities at organizations that do value them. 

In each instance, the reason they couldn’t pay these good people higher salaries was some kind of HR thing—where they would have to be promoted to management, or because they were at a certain grade, they’d have to be promoted over someone with longer tenure. 

This is just stupid, toxic, organizationally focused thinking where a non-profit has lost its way and doesn’t value its people. 

The value of those portfolios? Multiple millions of dollars. The ROI of those portfolios? Well above 15:1. The MGOs were incredibly good at their craft, increasing revenue year after year. But because of a bad HR policy, they were essentially pushed out. 

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard this same infuriating story over the years. 

When are we going to view our staff as part of our mission? 

Because if we did that, it would look like this: 

• You would pay competitive salaries and benefits.
• You would have an ample training budget.
• You would have solid managers who care about the development of your people.
• You would celebrate the staff.
• You would not ask them to do work that is not part of their job description.
• You would give them pay raises as they show you their worth and grow revenue. 

If you did these things, you would realize much higher staff retention, happier employees, and ultimately, much more revenue generated year over year. 

I lose patience when I hear how shortsighted organizations are because they’re not thinking about how much it costs to replace a good fundraiser—let alone the revenue lost from donors who are tired of always working with a new major gift officer. 

I mean, what good is it to change the world and burn out your staff doing it? 

How can you start to see your fundraisers as just as much a part of your mission as the thing you are doing every day to change the world? 

Jeff