The Basics to Developing a High Performing Fundraising Team

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Your People are Your Greatest Asset

It’s axiomatic that good fundraisers are hard to find. Not only is the average tenure of fundraisers in any given position painfully brief, but in recent years, some of the best talent has been lost to the private sector. 

The challenges to building a strong fundraising team are well documented, and these challenges prompt too many nonprofit leaders to compromise just to fill one or more open positions. 

Having the right people in the right position is the first and most important step to any successful fundraising enterprise. Here are a few reasons why:

1. The ethics of your fundraising enterprise will never rise above the ethics and character of your staff. Who you hire determines the degree of ethical fundraising being done at your organization. Unfortunately there is not often enough the right blend of passion and integrity required. 
2. Fundraising is fundamentally built on relationships. Having the right people to build the right kind of relationships over a period of multiple years leads to transformational revenue growth – especially with the right fundraising strategy in place. Too often, however, we find the wrong people in the wrong positions. These individuals invariably leave and this causes the organization to stall and donors to lose connectivity.
3. Even the best fundraising strategy can’t implement itself. Great planning, great intentions, and even great technology (even AI) simply cannot replace the power of human connection in fundraising. Great plans will always need great people to execute strategy to deliver results.

If My Team Is So Important, How Do I Begin Building That Team?

If you’re already leading an existing team, you’re likely lost in the fray of the details of the moment. You’ve probably hired out of necessity and convenience and haven’t taken a step back to look at the big picture and mapped out a strategic staffing plan to understand your needs and guide your future steps. 

Maybe you’re building a team from the ground up. Your organization is starting to gain serious momentum and it’s now time to start hiring fundraisers. You are probably struggling with the right positions to create, the job expectations, the right candidates for the role, the impact to the annual budget, and more. 

Or maybe (and hear our sympathy here – we’ve been there) you’ve come to the disheartening realization that you have the wrong people on the team. You realize you need to revamp and rebuild your team. You become consumed with the steps required to let these individuals go and how to rationalize it to yourself and to the rest of your team. 

Every team leader, regardless of the circumstances, must step out of the trees to understand the forest and how to navigate it. Taking the time to evaluate the situation and map out a plan for the future is so important. The need to build a strong team is a given. The circumstances preventing that reality are different. Here are eight principles to keep close as you begin the process:

1. Take the Time to Assess

Don’t take a “ready, fire, aim” approach to building your fundraising team. Don’t throw together a job description in a day. Don’t post a position on LinkedIn for a Director of Development and then depend on the person you eventually hire to define their job for themselves. Don’t hire (at least not right away) a devoted Major Gifts Officer if 90% of your revenue is coming from grants and there are only 100 individual donors in your database. To successfully build a strong team, you need to take the time to assess your current fundraising enterprise. Ask questions like, “what are the specific challenges we need to address? What responsibilities are being neglected? What opportunities do we have before us? Are there donors who are looking for attention that aren’t receiving attention? Are there excesses and redundancies to eliminate before hiring someone else? Do I have the necessary strategy in place within which a new fundraiser could thrive?

2. Don’t Compromise

The pragmatist assembles a mediocre team. The visionary assembles a great team. Once you have a vision for what you want your team to look like and what kind of character, competency, and chemistry you want to see among your team, don’t rest until that vision becomes a reality. Yes, finding the right people is hard. And yes, finding any old rear-end to put in a seat is pragmatic. But those bad hires will haunt you. Alternatively, those great hires will bring your vision to life. They’ll also fill you with life and renewed vigor. I have a canvas in my office that says, “Two Steps at a Time”. I had it made because I once heard someone say, “find a job that you’re so eager to get to that you take the stairs two steps at a time when you’re walking to your office”. You’ll have a much easier time taking the stairs two steps at a time if you have the right people around you.

3. Prioritize Character and Chemistry

Prioritize character and chemistry in both how you hire and how you approach the team you’re leading. When hiring, know that competency can be taught (caveat: you’re going to have to invest, though! See point #4). Character and chemistry can’t be taught. By character, I refer to a person with the kind of ethical and moral fortitude that allows you to trust them, and with them the organization’s donors and reputation. By chemistry, I refer to the person that embodies the culture of the team you envision. If all the people you hire have character and chemistry, they may not all be best friends, but there will be a synergy and camaraderie that wouldn’t otherwise exist. Make a list and write down specific characteristics of what “character” and “chemistry” should look like on your unique team. Seek feedback from your existing team. Once you’ve hired for character and chemistry, constantly reinforce exemplary character by celebrating integrity and ethical fundraising, and provide unique, fun, engaging opportunities for the chemistry on your team to blossom.  

4. Have Each Other’s Backs

Any team anywhere is entering “the trenches” together. Your trenches may look different and have different perils and pitfalls than the next team, but rest assured, in the world of fundraising, perils and pitfalls are sure to come. When they’re encountered, can your team trust you? Can they trust one another? Is the impulse to serve one another - not just to preserve oneself or get oneself ahead - in the DNA of your team? If you’re wondering how to impart that DNA into your team, it’s simple: take the posture of a servant yourself. Servant leadership inspires servanthood among others and galvanizes the bond among the team on the receiving end of that leadership. As the leader goes, so goes the team. 

5. Do Whatever You Can To Limit Turnover

You won’t hear us recommend buying napping pods, building a game room, or moving toward a fully remote team or 3-day workweek. You will hear us recommend learning the true cost of turnover against the cost of keeping the great team you’ve worked hard to build. Do the hard work of finding out from your fundraisers what motivates them in their job. Odds are that for the sake of posterity, they won’t say “pay”, but you can bet your bottom dollar that compensation is near the top of everybody’s list. So, fight for competitive salaries for your team. Do not, we repeat, do not hide behind any variation of this phrase: “well, we’re a nonprofit and we just can’t pay that well. If someone really loves our mission, that should be sufficient motivation”. If you can’t hire at a competitive wage, you’re probably not ready to hire for that position. You’re going to ask a lot of your colleagues. You’ll ask them to raise a lot of money. And they deserve to be justly compensated for that work. Beyond compensation, professional development and training opportunities tend to be near the top of most lists, too. Invest in training. Let your team know you value their growth and advancement. And then whatever else your team values, work within the power you have to provide them with what they need to do their job with joy and be fulfilled. 

6. Don’t Forget Your Board or Your Staff Leadership

Your board and executive staff set an example that others will follow in many areas and fundraising is no exception. It’s difficult to fundraise when your CEO and board aren’t “on board” with fundraising. A CEO or Executive Director who doesn’t see the value of fundraising, is too intimidated by fundraising, or just thinks it’s someone else’s job, will invariably hinder the effectiveness of the fundraising team. It’s that plain and that simple. There’s no way of getting around it. If it’s within the scope of your job description, work hard to recruit the kind of board members who will drive the organization toward investing in philanthropy and make a personal investment in giving and seeking the support of others. Gently and carefully remind your CEO or Executive Director of the importance of philanthropy and the significance of the role they have in setting a good example. Then remind them again in a different way. And then again in still another way. 

7. Advocate For a Culture of Philanthropy

Have you heard the term “culture of philanthropy” in recent years and scratched your head at its meaning? Culture of philanthropy describes a distinctiveness of an organization with a through-line of philanthropy running within every department and staff member and embedded within the organization’s highest priorities. Here’s one of the many reasons why it’s important: If the program staff and non-fundraising leaders of your organization don’t value philanthropy, don’t understand it, and don’t see it as part of their responsibility, your fundraisers will become resentful and siloed. To prevent this resentment and isolation, do everything you can to promote the merits and positive outcomes to staff and clients alike when philanthropy succeeds. Do what you can to promote, celebrate, and incentivize a culture of philanthropy across your organization. You’ll free your front-line fundraisers to run faster and with more enthusiasm than ever.  

8. Never Abandon the Process

Lastly, one must recognize that you never “arrive” at the destination. You should be constantly innovating, constantly cultivating character and chemistry, always striving to excel still more in what you’re seeking to build. You’ll have “Camelot” seasons when it seems like you have the right “knight” in every chair around the table. Don’t become complacent in those seasons. Always be concerned that harder times are around every corner and be prepared for them. Continue to press hard and further for excellence. There will also be seasons when a departure catalyzes several more departures and you feel vulnerable, less effective and successful, and your calendar seems more impacted daily by interviews for all your open positions. In those moments, do not settle. Do not capitulate. Do not compromise in those seasons but hold true to your process and your high expectations. The high-performance fundraising team is a never-ending and worthwhile journey, with evolving pathways, and passengers that are engaged for a short period and others there for the long haul. Regardless, in that journey it’s vital to stay the course. 

If you’ve found something within this white paper that you would like to explore further with our team, please contact us.

Kyle Houlton

President and CEO

kyle@covenantfirm.com

www.covenantfirm.com