“The purpose of fundraising is not to raise money, but to raise donors. You don’t want gift, you want givers.”

-Kim Klein, Fundraising for Social Change

In reviewing the report from Hass Foundation on the National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising, this report is first time that executive directors and senior development directors have ever been surveyed about the state of nonprofit development. The Haas Foundation in partnership with CompassPoint surveyed over 2,700 professionals during the summer of 2012 via electronic surveys and focus groups. This data has yielded some intriguing and interesting findings on why development is lagging in the nonprofit sector. Some of the main topics explored in this study are:
• Revolving Door of Development
• Help Wanted: Inadequate and Uneven Talent Pool
• More the One Person: Lacking the Conditions for Fundraising Success
• Defining a “Culture of Philanthropy”
• Breaking the Vicious Cycle
The research shows that the fundamental tools for developmental success are 1) fundraising plans and databases 2) board and executive leadership who lack development skills and 3) shared culture of philanthropy across the organization.
Section Summaries: Please see attached PowerPoint for exact numbers
• The Revolving Door issue- The study found that within nonprofits, a development director’s job could be vacant for months or years. This lack of fundraising personnel does not bode well for an organization, and the longer vacancies (1-2 years) were found in mid-to-smaller size organizations. These are the organizations in the most need for fundraising and development. Another disturbing finding is that about 50% of current development directors are looking to leave their jobs, and about a quarter of development directors want to leave the field.
• Help Wanted: Inadequate and Uneven Talent Pool- Another factor is the uneven talent pool for development directors. One out of three executives is not happy with the performance of their current development director. When organizations are looking for development candidates, more than 50% of the respondents could not find qualified candidates. Many executives responded that a good majority of development directors (they searched for) lacked key fundraising skills. The idea of supply and demand comes into play with nonprofit development. The report states that experienced development directors can command around $100,000 and up in certain institutions. The ability for large institution to pay a better salary causes experienced directors to move from smaller organizations to larger organizations. This in turn hurts small-middle size orgs because they cannot compete due to money.
• More the One Person: Lacking the Conditions for Fundraising Success- This section explored about how organizations cannot put the full onus on the development director. The study shows that high performing organizations have fundraising systems setup to help with development efforts. The most important tools for development and fundraising are donor databases, fundraising plans, and sufficient capacity. Another component is involvement of board and getting executive directors involved in fundraising. Within the report, it shows that high performing organization have executive directors who have experience in development.
• The Culture of Philanthropy- What does a culture of philanthropy mean in nonprofit development? It’s defined as people within the organization acting as ambassadors and being engaged in building relationships with donors. Also, it is a culture where people are able to articulate the case for giving, and are able to see the value of how fundraising aligns with an organization’s mission. This environment also includes organization’s system that will help donors, and having the executive director involved in fundraising strategy and implementation. An intriguing finding in this section is that executive directors and development directors have divergent views on the efficacy of fundraising initiatives. Development director are usually more pragmatic while executive directors tend to overestimate the success of the fundraising programs. This gap in perception could be bridged if the executive director has some experience and/or knowledge in development.
• Breaking the Vicious Cycle- The final section of this report outlines ways organizations can “break” the vicious cycle in development. The report states that entrenched organizational factors also contribute to development’s vicious cycle. It was what one would say is a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. Organizations need to take a different stance on fundraising, and not be passive, apologetic and siloed in their approach to development. Hiring the right development director will solve the problem, but the right person along with a culture of philanthropy can help break the “cycle”.

Key Conclusions:
-Fundraising is not the priority of just one person, but rather a shared responsibility involving the board, executive director and staff.
-Organization must break “The Vicious Cycle” if want to become successful in sustainable fundraising.
-The summation of data revealed that many organizations lack the fundamental tools for success in development. Tool needed for success are donor databases, board and executive leadership with development skills, and shared culture of philanthropy across the organization.