Interim Leadership
When a key development position goes vacant, your fundraising program cannot wait for a lengthy search. Covenant places experienced, senior-level fundraising professionals quickly, keeping your operations running, your donors engaged, and your organization positioned for a strong permanent hire.
Covenant can place a senior interim professional quickly to protect your momentum and maintain fundraising continuity.
Campaign and Major Gifts timelines do not pause for transitions. Covenant keeps your fundraising on track while you conduct your search.
Covenant's fractional model lets you right-size the engagement to your actual needs and budget.
What You Get
Covenant's interim professionals step in quickly, take ownership of your development priorities, and leave your organization stronger than they found it.
Your appeals, cultivation efforts, and fundraising activities continue without interruption. Covenant's interim professionals manage the day-to-day priorities of your development program from the moment they arrive, so your organization does not miss a beat.
A leadership vacancy creates uncertainty for your team and your donors. Covenant provides steady, senior-level presence throughout the transition, maintaining staff direction, tactical priorities, and CEO partnership when it matters most.
Where engagement scope allows, Covenant conducts an abridged assessment of your fundraising enterprise to surface gaps, clarify priorities, and position your incoming permanent leader for a strong start.
Covenant coordinates with your search process from the inside. When your new development leader arrives, we support onboarding and knowledge transfer to ensure a clean, intentional transition.
Interim leaders placed in strategic 3–12 month engagements
Average transition time from Covenant interim support to a permanent hire
Process
We begin by understanding your organization's situation, the scope of the role, your immediate priorities, and your timeline for a permanent hire.
Drawing from our bench of trained interim professionals, we identify the right person for your organization based on sector experience, capacity, and the specific context of your transition.
Your interim professional is introduced to your team and, where possible, downloads institutional knowledge from outgoing leadership before reviewing existing materials and establishing immediate action priorities.
Your Covenant professional manages development operations, maintains donor relationships, supports staff, and provides consistent updates to your CEO or executive director throughout the engagement.
When your permanent hire is in place, Covenant supports a clean transition — briefing the incoming leader, transferring institutional knowledge, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
What to Expect
Interim engagements typically range from 10 to 40 hours per week, depending on the scope of the transition and your organization's fundraising complexity. Most placements last four to six months, though engagements can extend if a permanent hire is delayed. All contracts can be adjusted with 30 days' notice.
Day-to-day management of development operations, donor stewardship and cultivation, staff direction, CEO partnership, and transition planning.
Maintain existing fundraising programs on schedule, participate in the onboarding process for your incoming permanent leader, and sustain data hygiene within your CRM throughout the engagement.
Experienced guidance. Enduring Results.
"I highly recommend Covenant Philanthropic Solutions as an excellent resource for capital campaign and fundraising support. Claudia and Kyle are laser-focused, experienced leaders in the philanthropy arena, and they keep me and my team on task gently but firmly with our goals. The Covenant team have been a fundamental part of our growth, giving us solid and easy-to-implement ideas for planning and securing several major gifts."
“Covenant Philanthropic Solutions has been a true partner to the Food Bank, providing invaluable guidance and expertise. Their comprehensive fundraising assessment was instrumental in shaping our strategy, ensuring we had the foundation needed for sustainable growth. Thanks to their insights, we are confidently moving forward with our next transformational campaign to better serve our community.”
"Covenant Philanthropic Solutions provided an exceptional staff assessment and fundraising plan for The Salvation Army Intermountain Division's development team. Their thoughtful approach, clear insights, and actionable recommendations have significantly strengthened our team's capacity and strategic direction. We are grateful for their expertise and the lasting impact on our mission's success."
Success Stories
Every case study represents a real organization navigating a real transition. The work looks different every time. The commitment is always the same.
When Laura's House lost its Chief Development Officer weeks before a major event and in the middle of an unfinished capital campaign, leadership needed continuity without compromise. Covenant placed a highly capable Interim CDO to oversee the entire development team, keeping fundraising momentum intact and annual goals on track throughout the transition.
When the Shea Center's Chief Development Officer resigned unexpectedly at a moment when annual fundraising was underperforming, Covenant conducted a comprehensive development assessment, delivering more than 40 strategic recommendations to stabilize the program and rebuild momentum.
Timing depends on the specifics of your situation, but Covenant maintains a bench
of trained interim professionals ready to be placed. In most cases, we can have someone in place within a matter of weeks, or even days, from initial engagement.
All Covenant interim professionals are experienced development leaders with proven track records across a variety of nonprofit subsectors. Every person on our bench has been trained in Covenant's interim model and has demonstrated the ability to step into complex situations quickly and effectively.
Fractional interim support is often competitive with full-time compensation rates when benefits, overhead, and onboarding costs are factored in. Covenant's flexible engagement model — ranging from 10 to 40 hours per week — allows you to right-size support to your actual budget and need.
Covenant's engagements are designed to be flexible. All contracts can be adjusted with 30 days' notice, and we regularly re-scope engagements as organizational needs evolve.
When your permanent hire is in place, Covenant supports a planned handoff — briefing the incoming leader, transferring institutional knowledge, and providing context on key donors, programs, and priorities. The transition out is as intentional as the transition in.
The first step is a conversation. Covenant Philanthropic Solutions brings the experienced guidance and genuine partnership your organization needs to navigate a transition without losing momentum.
