A group of fundraising and human-resource experts joined the Chronicle to discuss how to reduce fundraiser burnout, improve retention, and cope with an exceptionally strong labor market without breaking the bank.
“Everybody would love a raise, but that’s not always a possibility,” says Maegan Dyson, chief development officer of the Conway Regional Health Foundation, which supports Conway Regional, a nonprofit hospital in Arkansas.
Last fall, the Chronicle commissioned a survey to find out how fundraisers were viewing their field and career outlook. The results were stark: Many fundraisers felt underappreciated and frustrated by unrealistic expectations and low pay. A full 40 percent of those surveyed said they plan to leave their job in the next two years, and 28 percent said they plan to leave fundraising altogether.
It’s important that nonprofit executives and their boards of directors understand the true cost of losing fundraisers, which can also mean losing donors and funding in the long run, the panelists say.
“If they’re really good, you want to keep them on,” says Dyson, who recommends nonprofit leaders be attentive to the needs of fundraisers if they want to improve retention, such as offering a hybrid work schedule or opportunities for advancement. “You want to show them that their performance matters to you and that their loyalty to your institution matters to you,” she says.
Dyson was joined on the panel by Patrick Salazar, founder and board chair of Latinos LEAD, a group that recruits Latino professionals for nonprofit board leadership, and Trayce Weeks, managing director of strategy and advisory at Nonprofit HR, a human-resources consultancy for charities. The session, titled “How to Improve Fundraiser Satisfaction and Retention,” was hosted by Rasheeda Childress, senior editor for fundraising at the Chronicle. Read on for highlights, or watch the video to get all the insights.
Keep Fundraisers Motivated
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to attracting and retaining fundraising talent, says Weeks, who cautions against “making assumptions on what our employees want or need.” Still, she maintains that across the board, it’s important to keep employees informed about what nonprofits can and can’t offer monetarily and maintain an open dialogue about the bonuses, perks, or opportunities that matter most to them.
Weeks often helps clients build out five-year employee-retention plans that take into account each organization’s budget and the kinds of compensation-based incentives it can afford. She encourages leaders to share those plans and budgetary realities with their staff members so they’ll know what financial incentives they can expect in the years ahead and why. Ask employees to share the forms of support they value the most, Weeks adds.
“Not everyone is motivated by compensation,” says Weeks, who notes that while bonuses can help retain employees, so can opportunities for advancement or professional development.
For some fundraisers, feeling connected to their nonprofit’s mission can also provide a vital source of motivation and commitment to their organization, says Salazar. He recommends fundraisers take at least one day a month to visit their programs or events so they can see the impact they helped create. “I think too often fundraisers get caught up at the desk,” he says. “It’s really important to go out and get a sense of the impact of your work.”
Salazar also suggests leaders consider helping fundraisers connect with a professional association or networking group as a cost-effective way to ward off isolation and burnout. Likewise, he says, executives can help fundraisers feel valued and integrated into the broader organization by involving them in high-level discussions and decision making. “We tend to look at fundraisers as these people that go in and and do magical things and come out with money,” says Salazar. “They’re senior managers, and they want to see the organization succeed.”
Address Staff Shortages
For nonprofits struggling to attract new fundraising talent, staff shortages can make retention problems even worse, with employees who stay becoming overworked and burning out from picking up the slack. “Let’s be honest — even when there aren’t vacancies, most fundraising shops have skeleton staff,” says Dyson. “We’re all doing more every year and continue to do more.”
She recommends that leaders prioritize the most fruitful efforts and reduce the number of inefficient or overly time-consuming ones. “You really need to take a step back and look to see what really is important,” she says. “Is it moving the needle for our institution or are we doing it just because it checks the box and we’ve always done it?”
Volunteer fundraisers or a fundraising committee on the board can also lessen the burden, says Salazar. Some cities even boast what they call executive services corps, which are made up of retired or semi-retired professionals who offer to volunteer for a set number of hours per month to help charities with database management or other daily work functions. “They only have maybe a couple of hours a month,” he says. “But they might be able to fulfill that specific role.”
Money Matters
Even for nonprofits with shoestring budgets, Dyson says, thinking salaries don’t matter or that an organization is too bare bones to give bonuses is “a really good way to continue to lose people.” She recommends groups instead take a look at performance-based salary increases to help fundraisers feel appreciated and have a sense of financial sustainability, even if they didn’t go into fundraising with the expectation of a high salary commiserate with the private sector.
To help offset expenses involved in retaining and incentivizing major-gift fundraisers at the Conway Regional Health Foundation, Dyson oversaw the implementation of a plan to add a small administrative fee to the donations the foundation administered that would go toward these efforts.
Focusing priorities and reducing program inefficiencies can also help nonprofits afford to reward employees more, she says. For example, if a certain service that’s going unused costs $1,000 a month, those funds could be used to help reward employees instead.
According to the panelists, incentivizing employees to stay at an organization can be more cost-effective for a nonprofit that might otherwise face a lengthy candidate search and missed funding opportunities. In some cases, the promise of future opportunities for growth might help employees feel more motivated to stay, says Salazar. “One of the things that a good nonprofit is always doing is constantly looking for opportunities for people to advance,” he says, adding that it’s also smart to create a succession plan for senior fundraisers.
Dyson puts it this way: If employees know they have an opportunity to grow at a nonprofit, they’re less likely to leave. “It’s not costing you a dime to make them feel really good about what they’re doing and really valued.” she says.
