The career path of a fundraising or donor relations professional is an interesting one. After last week's blog it becomes even clearer to me that many of us view our profession in quite contrasting lights. I can honestly say that I have never met anyone in the industry who grew up dreaming of being a non profit fundraiser or relationship professional. None of us majored in it in college. But here we are. And where are we going? I had the pleasure of meeting a young lady on a client visit, she was an undergraduate and was also our server at dinner. She planned on a career in nonprofit work by majoring in marketing and minoring in social work. Smart cookie.
Many of us never thought of our career trajectory when we got into this field, and now we find ourselves faced with interesting realities. Like any profession, ours has devolved into a serious career choice for folks and many are now majoring in philanthropy in college. But what does our career path look like?
As I quoted last week, the fact is in the US the average lifespan of a fundraiser currently stands at 16 months. You can see that fact her in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. So that's the average, meaning some stay much shorter and some much longer. So how do we know when is the right time to stay or go? It's no good to be seen as a job hopper (the "haaaper" commercial pops into my head) but can you also hurt your career by sticking in one position too long? The answer is a resounding YES.
The donor relations world at the top has seen some interesting position shifts in the past 18 months with those at the top leaving jobs for others, being phased out, or moving upward significantly. This begs the question, when is loyalty too long? It's a fact in our business that in order to be compensated well, you have to leave or seriously threaten it? But what are other reasons to leave? Certainly new challenges and different types of organizations are a good reason. Stagnancy in leadership being another, but so is a change in leadership.
There is a growing sense of impatience in the business with the demand for doing more with less, wanting the new shiny thing from our leadership. So what's the solution? Pick it up and pack it up in order to advance. Yup, most often that's the reality. So how do we retain top talent? How do you build loyalty and long tenures without accepting complacency. How do you stay somewhere more than 5 years and not be seen as the "dinosaur" in the office? How do you keep talent and not let it get poached? In certain markets like Boston, DC and New York, the revolving doors spin wildly as organizations poach talent in a competitive race for dollars and donors.
Speaking of donors, what is best for them and our organizations? How does one balance their need for personal success and fulfillment with that of a mission you believe in? These are issues we should be discussing at conferences, in blogs, and at gatherings. We should work to advance our profession and realize that it's just that, a profession and a vocation. How do we beat the drum for change without losing sight of the overall goal of inspired philanthropy? Who helps us mold our career trajectories and paths to success if it's not us? I would love to hear your thoughts as we continue these important discussions.
Cheers,
Lynne
The sad truth is also that we, who learned in the field are "aging", and though we may be 10 years from retirement, younger talent with degrees in philanthropy are hedging us out. I have several friends looking for development jobs right now, but not getting past the interview...they see your age...they look for younger, cheaper, "promising" new talent. I took a position at the bottom of a development department a year ago, just to get a job when I needed one. A year later, a younger, far less experienced (though very sweet and wonderful to work for) woman is my boss, and I'm doing press releases and keeping up the marketing end of the development office at $20,000 less than I made 2 years ago, while I mentor her and help her learn her job. I will likely be here a long time, as there are no prospects for a woman of my "age".
ReplyDeleteWe don't like to talk about the aging out of the experienced professionals, but it is a reality and the degree in philanthropy is a big piece of the reason. Another is the higher salaries that our years of experience should bring. Why pay someone with 20 years of experience when you can get a college kid much cheaper. My hedge on this was becoming tech savvy. I run all the social media and try to keep learning daily, as it changes so rapidly. The younger set picks it up by osmosis, but we "old school" development professionals have to learn it. If you are hanging on to your typewriter and don't do Facebook, but you need to continue in this field for the coming 10 or more years, I suggest you broaden your horizons. It's the only way you will survive unless you are a major gifts officer...that's the only experience the younger set cannot bring to the table.
Anyway...I ramble. Great insights. Thanks for the blog!
Kudos for raising the questions; no easy answers. As Stewardship & Donor Relations continues to mature within the fundraising arena and integrate its functions more fully with front line practices, do we need to adopt similar behaviors in order to prove our value and/or be accepted as "real" development professionals?
ReplyDeleteI find the term relationship professional an interesting term - I am an alumni relations person and have been for over 10 years - the challenge I believe is to clearly define what an alumni relations person does vs a fundraiser. The concern for alumni in my opinion is that our success is measured by how well fundraising does yet we don't ask for the gift - we just bring home the information. If there is anyone out their that can offer some suggestions on how alumni separates themselves from fundriaisng while maintaining their value to the overall institution - I am faced with the challenge of clearly defining the role of alumni within the bigger university setting.
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