Research shows that fundraisers tend to stay at a nonprofit less than two or three years, and that many leave after being recruited by other organizations. A recent survey of 660 frontline fundraisers by the consulting firm Bentz Whaley Flessner found that 56 percent had been contacted about other job prospects six or more times in a year.
Jeanne Jachim, president of the foundation that raises more than $11 million a year for the Seattle-based Virginia Mason Health System, knows this trend, though not through direct experience. She says she has not had a fundraiser come to her with a competing offer in more than a decade. Of her four fundraisers, two have worked for Virginia Mason for more than 10 years.
Ms. Jachim credits that stability to a four-pronged effort to help gift officers feel fulfilled and valued.
1) Autonomy
Though Virginia Mason fundraisers work within a structure and toward established goals, they’re given considerable freedom to run their own calendars, set donor visit schedules, and do their own reports. “They’re not micromanaged,” Ms. Jachim says. “People who do major gifts work are not afraid to be out on their own. In fact, they value being able to be on their own.”
2) Access and Stature
Major gift officers have direct access to the health system’s chief executive and chief medical officer. Ms. Jachim helps them decide when to bring in those officials, but she doesn’t act as an intermediary. That approach gives fundraisers stature in the organization and a sense that they are trusted, she says.
3) Applause
Ms. Jachim makes sure that the chief executive and other leaders in the health system recognize fundraisers when they bring in major gifts. “We want to make it very clear that other people know that they’re doing good work,” she says.
4) Team Environment
In weekly meetings, fundraisers present to their colleagues and support staff written strategies they propose for approaching individual donors. The group often goes so far as to vote on an approach; if it’s voted down, the fundraiser will return later with a revised plan.
Not everyone appreciates the group critique; one fundraiser was uncomfortable having others discuss her work and left the foundation, Ms. Jachim says. But she believes the meeting fosters a sense of shared purpose that prompts fundraisers to seek colleagues’ help later when they’re putting a plan into action. “It creates a collegial environment and removes the isolation of gift-officer work,” she says.
The meetings also provide a venue for celebrating success, big and small. Ms. Jachim recognizes every gift by giving the fundraiser a PayDay candy bar. Million-dollar gifts net a chocolate bar wrapped in gold foil.
