It’s time to shine a light on the nonprofit workforce

We’ve all read about how difficult it is to find and attract new employees. When a company can’t recruit and retain an adequate workforce, it impacts profitability.

In nonprofits, the impact of the workforce shortage is even more dire. Without an adequate team of fundraising professionals, nonprofits cannot meet the needs of their communities: families may not know about or receive vital support. Patients cannot access specialized healthcare close to home. Seniors may suffer in isolation. Communities lose their vibrancy.

The success of any nonprofit foundation depends largely upon the talent and experience of their fundraising team. Yet charitable organizations around the country face significant challenges filling vacancies and retaining staff. A crisis is on the horizon and closing in fast.

It’s time for our industry to shine a light on the vast opportunities and benefits of a profession in fundraising. Nonprofits add richness to our communities, through education, youth activities, arts and culture, senior support, leadership, social services, healthcare and virtually any other area of interest. This means there are endless ways an individual can contribute where career focus and personal passions meet.

What’s stopping us? I can think of three things to start:

• Narrow pipeline. Fundraising needs to be more widely promoted as a career opportunity. Educational institutions should develop targeted degree programs and increase course offerings, which will generate new talent for this rewarding career path.
• Under resourcing. Many nonprofits struggle to provide adequate technology, training and even basic equipment to support the success of their fundraisers and associated staff.
• Unrealistic expectations. Fundraising goals and workloads based on wishes rather than reality demoralize even the most dedicated team members.

At HonorHealth Foundation, we recognize the high cost of losing an effective fundraiser in this relationship-driven profession. It can take months to recruit and hire a replacement, more than a year to reestablish those relationships and begin generating significant philanthropic revenue.

We’ve worked to address these challenges by creating a professional home that attracts, develops and retains top talent. We understand our market and offer a competitive salary, giving us an edge in attracting and keeping our top talent. With the narrow pipeline of experienced fundraisers, we often look to related industries such as hospitality and sales. There are many resources and associations to teach them the fundraising business. Most important to us is the candidate’s belief in our mission, commitment to collaboration and self-motivation.

In addition to competitive compensation, we have found that other pillars that are most important to our team are culture, opportunity and flexibility. We give every Foundation employee membership to relevant professional associations and a healthy annual budget for professional development. We are big on celebrations, recognizing not only birthdays and work anniversaries but advancements, new gifts and other personal and professional achievements.

Our operational plans are developed by each team. This participation and autonomy builds ownership in our goals and honors each staff members’ role in achieving it. Personal SMART goals and department goals are aligned and a monthly reporting dashboard for each fundraising team eliminates any mystery. We identify issues early and discuss them openly. So even when we do encounter unavoidable challenges, they don’t simmer or erode confidence.

What can we all do to elevate philanthropy as a viable, vibrant profession? Tell our stories! How did you get started in your fundraising career? Telling your story will help others see themselves making a living while serving their community in a meaningful way.