Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Driving the Rainmakers Away

Friends:

Recently a colleague of mine posted a question on an email forum, asking participants whether or not their mission statement makes a reference to philanthropy. I found this pointed and insightful. In the most recent issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, a front page article says that half of our nation's top fundraising executives want to quit their jobs. Findings from a large national study suggest that blame falls on the CEOs.  Why?  Because they aren't doing enough to create a culture of philanthropy within their institutions and because they generally "don't understand fund-raising."

This is consistent with what the MajorGiving team finds in the field, especially when we are recruiting fundraisers. While several years ago The Chronicle frequently carried articles about fundraisers' tendency to leapfrog from job to job, there now seems to be a shortage of qualified fundraising professionals.

I encourage you to check out the article, as we can safely assume that we'll be reading much more about this.

Talk to you soon!

Bob