{"id":551,"date":"2021-05-06T18:46:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T18:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/?p=551"},"modified":"2021-05-06T18:46:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T18:46:30","slug":"what-is-causing-fundraiser-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/?p=551","title":{"rendered":"What is Causing Fundraiser Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our profession has a problem – a big one. And, for once, we shouldn\u2019t blame the pandemic, although it certainly hasn\u2019t helped.<\/p>\n

We, in the fundraising sector, can\u2019t seem to hang on to employees. In a field that values – arguably above all else – relationships, it is sadly ironic that professional turnover is alarmingly high.<\/p>\n

A joint survey from AFP and the Chronicle of Philanthropy<\/a> reported that more than half of the development professionals surveyed plan to look for another job within two years. More disturbingly, about one-third plan to leave the profession altogether!<\/p>\n

The primary reasons for dissatisfaction were work-related stress and a lack of appreciation. The study reported that 84 percent of development professionals felt tremendous pressure to succeed, and roughly half felt under-appreciated.<\/p>\n

And this study was conducted in 2019, well before the covid crisis. Our new normal of work has added more disruptions, and my prediction is that the present state of fundraiser retention will be even more fragile in the future.<\/p>\n

Nonprofits may suffer the long-term consequences. This constant churn of fundraisers does little to boost confidence among donors or build trust. Fundraisers are often the face of an organization and if they aren\u2019t sticking around long enough to barely be remembered, this is not a great omen for sustained fundraising success.<\/p>\n

If there is constant turnover, surely it cannot be fully blamed on a few bad hires. The perpetual rotation of gift officers may signal deeper organizational issues: poor supervision; unrealistic or unclear expectations; a toxic work environment, or perhaps a combination of these.<\/p>\n

If you are not concerned about how chronic turnover affects your nonprofit, perhaps you should be. It\u2019s likely indicative of bigger problems that may:<\/p>\n

Signal ineffective management. <\/strong>There\u2019s an old trope: people don\u2019t leave bad jobs; they leave bad bosses. It turns out there\u2019s some truth to this. An Inc<\/a>. article on employee retention reported that workers who rate their supervisor\u2019s performance poorly are four times as likely to be job hunting. Habitual turnover often sends a message \u2013 and not a good one \u2013 about company practices and culture, rather than on the performance of those leaving.<\/p>\n

Erode public trust. <\/strong>When donors are routinely introduced to new gift officers, expect trust issues to surface. Can we blame them if they are reluctant\/weary\/cautious (you choose the descriptor) to further engage? In any event, it will surely disrupt your nonprofit\u2019s fundraising process by slowing relationship-building and will undermine donor confidence.<\/p>\n

Raise concerns about the organization and\/or its mission. <\/strong>Pervasive and persistent turnover \u2013 affecting not just fundraising staff but the entire organization \u2013 is symptomatic of more serious issues. It may call into question leadership capabilities or even the viability of the organization, potentially casting a shadow on its mission and effectiveness. In fundraising, everyone loves a winner. Perpetual changes in leadership or among employees will inevitably erode the perceived worth of the organization. And this will lead to serious fundraising challenges.<\/p>\n

Retention and turnover experts now predict voluntary job departures will increase significantly in 2021 as employees resume the job searches they put off pre-pandemic.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more to this. The past year gave us plenty of time to reflect on what\u2019s really important. The usual drivers \u2013 pay and promotion \u2013 might take a backseat to other things \u2013 flexibility, sense of purpose, or life-balance.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s time to get ahead of what could potentially be a mass exodus? If your retention numbers are already concerning, it\u2019s time to reflect deeply on your practices and culture, and then make changes. And even if you have a loyal following among your staff, be prepared for a level of turnover that you hadn\u2019t imagined.<\/p>\n

In my next post, I\u2019ll explore changes that could create a longer lasting \u2013 and more satisfying \u2013 tenure for development professionals. If you have some thoughts on this, I\u2019d love to hear from you!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our profession has a problem – a big one. And, for once, we shouldn\u2019t blame the pandemic, although it certainly hasn\u2019t helped. We, in theRead More<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":1,"name":"Uncategorized","slug":"uncategorized","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":47,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":47,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Uncategorized","category_nicename":"uncategorized","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"Our profession has a problem – a big one. And, for once, we shouldn\u2019t blame the pandemic, although it certainly hasn\u2019t helped. We, in the fundraising sector, can\u2019t seem to hang on to employees. In a field that values – arguably above all else – relationships, it is sadly ironic that professional turnover is alarmingly high. A joint survey from..","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=551"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":767,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions\/767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andreataylorconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}