I’ve been reading a lot of job descriptions these days, from scores of job boards. It’s striking how many hundreds of non-profits across the country (and overseas) are in the search for that “ideal” Director of Development/Philanthropy. This is the business we are in, so I’ve been taking notes.
The often elaborate descriptions of Director of Development job requirements, duties, and qualifications can often be up to two pages long, listing every development role you can think of – all rolled up into one singular position. For example (pulled from a current job site): develop a short-term and long-term fundraising plan with metrics, goals and strategies; run the annual fund campaign; undertake prospect research; manage 150 prospects through the fundraising cycle; develop a robust stewardship program; identify new foundations; write proposals and produce data-driven reports; develop communications and marketing programs in line with organizational priorities; ensure all donor moves are updated in the database (familiarity with Salesforce is a plus); ensure proper gift agreements and acknowledgements; plan and execute fundraising events; develop corporate relationships, gifts and sponsorships; raise and exceed the budget targets for the organization; travel to meet with donors, partners and internal staff. In other words, do it all!
There is a reason that we focus on building major giving programs.
Major gifts from individuals, defined as a $100,000 or more, are the lifeline of a seasoned, well-positioned, and sophisticated philanthropy program. A steady stable of annual major gifts can take some of the constant pressure “to produce” off of the fundraising staff and give them more time to cultivate donor readiness. Quality major gift fundraising requires patience and perseverance, and donors don’t honestly care about year-end organizational financial pressures. Donor-centric fundraising honors the timing and emotional trajectory of the donor’s inclination, not immediate organizational needs. (campaigns are urgent and can be an exception). And when working with individuals over time – developing their trust, truly understanding their passions and motivations, and making sure the stewardship moves are meaningful –it is likely that donor will continue to give to your organization consistently and over the long-term.
According to Giving USA, in 2023 there was $557 billion of private philanthropy. This typically keeps growing every year, with a few exceptions, which is even more amazing. Of the $557b flowing to charitable causes, 67% or over 2/3rds were major gifts from individuals (and their family foundations), some of them transformational for the recipients.
Of course we love institutional foundations (18% of that total annual giving) and corporate sponsors (3.5%) . We appreciate the essential annual fund campaign, which is your pipeline for qualifying and moving donors upward. But identifying and cultivating a smaller pipeline of major gift donors, focusing on your top tier that are highly inclined and high net worth, is where the bulk of your energy and time should go.
How to find those major gift philanthropists is for another day, but this is what we do well at Philanthropy Squared.