“Executives report that significant numbers of development directors lack key fundraising skills. . . When it comes to securing gifts, executives report that 26% of development directors overall—and 38% among the smallest nonprofits— have no experience or are novice. The survey results suggest that people with the title of development director in the nonprofit sector have widely varying levels of training and competency for the job. . . . Nearly one in three executives are lukewarm about, or dissatisfied with, the performance of their current development directors.”
Jeanne Bell and Marla Cornelius, UnderDeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising (San Francisco, CA: CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, 2013).
The need to invest in orientation, on-boarding, and continuing education for fundraising professionals is apparent for all to see. What are you doing to improve the situation in your organization? What do you suppose it’s costing you not to make this investment?