Title: Gone are the days when the nonprofit sector could count on a steady stream of new recruits willing t
1- Gone are the days when the nonprofit sector
could count on a steady stream of new recruits
willing to accept the stress, burnout, and the
persistent lack of resources that come with a
nonprofit job. - - Paul Light
2The Next Generation of Development Professionals
- Amie Latterman
- Development Director, SPUR San Francisco
Planning Urban Research - www.spur.org
- Former National Co-Chair, Young Nonprofit
Professionals Network - www.ynpn.org
3Agenda
- A little about my perspective
- Context for this discussion
- Training new fundraisers
- Resources for young fundraisers
- Managing new fundraisers
- QA
4Objectives
- Have identified potential road-blocks in bringing
up new development staff in their organization - Understand the overall problems associated with
leadership development in the nonprofit sector
and why it is crucial to foster a career path for
future fundraisers. - Learn how leadership development strategies are
working in various parts of the U.S. - Have learned about resources available for
training the next generation.
5Context
- 9.4 m paid FTE 4.7 m volunteer FTE 321.6 b in
wages - Over the last two decades, the total number of
nonprofit organizations tripled. - Growing concern over what will happen when the
Baby Boomers leave the helm executive
transition on a large scale. - Not an issue of younger professionals entering
the sector they are doing so in large numbers. - ___________________
- Well need 640,000 new senior nonprofit
managers by 2016, an impressive number by far,
but it should be no thing for a sector with more
than 9 million workers currently in place to fill
those roles, especially with energetic young
people coming to the nonprofit field in droves. - - Stanford Social Innovation Review, Jan 2008
6Context
- Young leaders felt that older leaders did not
respect that they were coming from a place of
knowledge and legitimacy. They consistently
expressed feeling undervalued. - Frances Kunreuther, 2005.
7Context
8Context
- 2004 survey of some 2,200 nonprofit organizations
by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found roughly
65 anticipated a change in top leadership by
2009. - Recommendations
- Expanded intergenerational dialogue on leadership
- Increased investment in younger leaders,
especially those of color - More viable retirement paths for the current
generation of leaders
9Background
- 2005 Frances Kunraither recommendations
- Invest in younger leaders
- Identify and nurture more leaders of color
- Make it viable for directors to imagine and
pursue a transition - Promote a healthier balance between work and
family/personal life - Broaden intergenerational discussion
- Examine current org structures and expectations
10Context
- 2006 Report by the Meyer Foundation and
CompassPoint, a survey of 2,000 nonprofit
executive directors disclosed that about 75 do
not plan to remain in that position in five
years. - Reasons for leaving nonprofit sector leadership
are - burnout and a lack of work-life balance
- low pay
- the strains of fundraising
- governance struggles with boards,
- more attractive private sector opportunities
- Most leaders had not broached the subject of
succession planning.
11Context
- 2006 Bridgespan Study
- Recommendations
- Invest in leadership capacity
- Refine management rewards to attract and retain
talent - Expand recruiting horizons and foster individual
career mobility
12Context
- 2007 partnership by CompassPoint Nonprofit
Services, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the
Meyer Foundation and Idealist.org surveyed 6,000
people. - Overwhelming fundraising responsibilities, long
hours, sub-par pay rates, and meager
consideration for retirement are not what will
attract bright and talented people to nonprofit
careers, however mission-driven they might be.
13Context
- Recommendations
- Provide mentors and help employees meet leaders
of similar organizations - Offer better salaries and benefits when possible
- Restructure organizations to give younger staff
members more responsibility and create a more
evident career track
14Context
- Stanford Social Innovation Review
(www.ssireview.org), Jan 2008 - Recommendations
- Provide mentoring opportunities to younger
employees. Allow work time to be used for
mentoring sessions monthly or quarterly. - Give junior employees tangible leadership
opportunities such as leading a meeting, managing
an important project from start to finish, or
supervising an intern or volunteer. - Encourage all staff to pursue learning
opportunities outside of their job description
help staff to know each piece of the
organization. - Involve staff in major decision-making, such as
the organizations strategic planning process or
prep for an important board meeting
15_______________________________Stepping up or
Stepping Out A Report from the Young Nonprofit
Professionals Network ___________________________
____
16YNPN Background
- 10,000 member network of young nonprofit
professionals - Chapters offer a combination of professional
development, networking and access to resources - National YNPN works to support local chapters
- Organization is entirely volunteer-driven to
date, through national and local boards comprised
of membership
17Survey
- Intent was to provide a voice missing from the
leadership deficit conversation - Surveyed our 10,000 members to ascertain their
preparedness for leadership positions in the
nonprofit sector. - 1,687 responses - chose to focus our analysis on
respondents with 4 years of experience in the
sector
18Key Findings
- 45 of respondents plan to leave the sector for
their next position - 48 consider lack of management experience a
barrier to taking on an ED position - Many consider the ED job too stressful and
difficult to balance with a personal life - One third consider it highly likely that they
will serve as an ED in the future
19Why are we Losing Talent?
Burnout and low wages were consistently cited as
reasons why staff leave the sector
20Preferred Next Sector
Only 55 of our members are planning to work in
the sector for their next position. There is no
clear preferred alternate sector
21Concern about the ED role
- Members cited fear of long hours, stress, and
lack of work/life balance as reasons not to
become an ED - Over 50 of respondents said it was likely that
they would serve as EDs in the future - Demonstrates deep ambiguity about how leadership
positions are currently structured in the sector
22Role of Current Leaders
- Create opportunities for staff to take on greater
leadership responsibilities - Provide mentoring to future leaders within your
organization - Project a balanced image of the role to your
staff - Shared leadership situations would encourage me
to stay in the field, particularly when there is
support re fundraising/development. - - Survey Participant
23Role for Funders and MSOs
- Provide funding for nonprofits to invest in
career path and leadership development - Create a talent bank of young nonprofit
professionals to enable talent-sharing for
nonprofits linked by issue and geography
24Addressing Sector Concerns
Our members have significant qualms about being
able to balance their work-life and personal
obligations in leadership roles
- Highlight models of organizations and leaders
that address these concerns - Demonstrate that they can build a successful
career in the sector - Engage them in co-creating new structures that
better meet organizational needs and their own
25Professional Development
- Cultivating competencies
- Articulating core competencies will not only help
your mentees, but also your colleagues and
yourself. - Clearly framed core competencies make evaluations
easier, and provide milestones for new
fundraisers to achieve. - Develop core competencies in writing, donor
relations, project management, marketing,
interpersonal skills
26Professional Development
- Benchmarking and modeling best practices
- Development, especially major gifts fundraising,
can be challenging and intimidatingrole-playing
and modeling are often helpful - Clearly outline your decision-making process for
your mentees.
27Professional Development
- AFP web conferences and chapter sessions
- YNPN chapter workshops
- Mentoring programs
- Coaching
- The Foundation Center
- The Fund Raising School _at_ Indiana Univ.
- TGCI the Grantsmanship Center
- Compasspoint in SF Support Center for Nonprofit
Management in NYC etc.
28Resources
- Public Allies
- Various Ethnic Professional Associations
- Young Women Social Entrepreneurs
- Bay Area Options
- AFP Mentoring Program
- CompassPoint
- Development Executives Roundtable
National Options American Humanics Charity
Channel Coro Fellowship Program in Public
Affairs Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy
The Foundation Center The Fund Raising School
(Indiana University Center on
Philanthropy 30,000 grads!) The Grantsmanship
Center, Inc. Grassroots Fundraising
Journal onPhilanthropy and other blogs
- YNPN
- Job Seeking Tools
- Membership Connections Listserv
- Mentoring Events
- Professional Networking
29Managing New Fundraisers
- Involve in group meetings planning
- Formalize orientation
- Document procedures and protocols
- Do training before handing over a project
- Frame education as an on-going, every day, every
hour thing - Support professional development informal and
formal classes - Encourage volunteerism and leadership development
for a few hours each month. - Admit your own mistakes
30Managing New Fundraisers
- Assessing work styles and strengths
- Assign different types of tasks in the first few
weeks to gauge attention to detail, research
capability, interpersonal skills, etc. Tasks may
include tracking RSVPs, producing nametags,
creating a prospect profile, low-stakes phone
assignments - Those with work experience transitioning into
development may be more aware of their needs as a
managed employee - ? How much guidance did they need? How
comfortable were they making decisions? Did they
prefer written directions (i.e. email), or verbal
discussions?
31Managing New Fundraisers
- Providing feedback
- Make it a regular thing when negative feedback
comes out of nowhere its disconcerting - Make sure your expectations are clear, and in
line with the core competencies youre trying to
cultivate. - Acknowledge success
- Work with HR if possible to set up systems that
enable your direct reports to comfortably provide
feedback about you
32Managing New Fundraisers
- Challenging and motivating young fundraisers
- Those new to the working world will not only be
learning development from you theyll also be
learning how to be a professional. - Set consistent standards and recognize
achievements - Have new fundraisers formulate goals, explore
different types of development, and monitor their
job satisfaction - Fundraisers must be intrepid, no matter what
their giving area encourage resourcefulness,
initiative, and creativity! - Communityshared experiencessupport. Peer
groups are valuable.
33Acknowledgement
- Dee Dee Mendoza, Associate Director of
Development, College of Engineering, UC Berkeley - Josh Solomon and Yarrow Sandahl of YNPN National
Board of Directors - Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Compasspoint
- Eleanor A. Smith