Flourishing
"Will I sit next to a new person every year?" Earlier this week, I met with a longtime client. Their fund development person had given their notice after a year of work. It wasn't unexpected. Three months after starting the position, the fund development person said they were burned out and didn't want to do fund development tasks anymore. A bit of a problem. It's not entirely unexpected in the field either. CompassPoint and the Haas Jr. Fund released their study, Underdeveloped, a few years ago about fundraising and nonprofits. One finding: over 50% of fund development people at small nonprofits (less than a $1 million in revenue) are planning to leave their position within two years. Yes, you may be sitting next to a new person every two years. Unfortunately. In the years since the CompassPoint study findings, we have seen an increase in uncertainty in the funding environment. Federal, state, tribal and local grants and contracts are being cut. As a result, there is more pressure and, yes, competition for foundation, individuals and corporate dollars. How then do we flourish when the work is never done and where the primary goal is to help connect people with generosity? This blog…