What Makes a Great Nonprofit Development Director?
Q: One problem I see often?
A: Assuming great Major Gift Officers should be able to slide right into Development Director Roles.
Leaders: Just because you have a great relationship-building fundraiser on staff doesn’t mean they should be leading the entire department.
A quick list to start the conversation about your fundraiser's fit in the director role?
❓Are they great at leading or managing people? Good at mentoring others?
👂What I often hear: “HR got another complaint because they haven’t been available to their younger team members. They're never in the office.”
❓Are they abundant in their thinking? Excited when the ED wants to scale & grow?
👂What I often hear: ”I don’t know how we’d ever raise that much. That number feels too aggressive.”
❓Are they detail-oriented and great at project management? Is it easy for them to keep up with technology and trends?
👂What I often hear: “We just keep those kind of things in our head.”
❓Are they well versed with financials? Able to co-pilot overall revenue generation with the ED?
👂What I often hear:”I hope that donor doesn’t ask us all those numbers questions.”
❓Are they both a big picture strategy thinker and executor of tasks? Are they integrating a long-term, sustainable funding strategy for the organization?
👂What I often hear: “My team is too busy to think that far ahead. They’re slammed with events, appeals, and campaigns.”
❓Are they efficient? Driven by their team aligning hours with dollars, thus making the tough decisions when it comes to stopping some activities to start others?
👂What I often hear: “We’ve always had Casino Night. I think our donors would revolt if we didn’t have it.”
What would you add to this list? Does one of these describe your organization? If yes, we should talk!
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn where I share insider info daily — the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and diversifying revenue.
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