Staff turnover is one of the biggest challenges facing the Fundraising sector. With the average length of service in junior fundraising roles being 14 months, and annual turnover rates of 22% across the voluntary sector with 30% and above not being unusual in fundraising teams, the need to retain and develop fundraising talent is acute.
When fundraisers move on quickly it disrupts relationships with supporters, particularly teams where individual relationships are central such as major donors, corporate and community. High staff turnover leads to a loss of organisational knowledge and expensive recruitment costs, and with a large number of vacancies chasing a relatively small pool of experienced fundraisers, turnover can lead to significant periods of staff gaps and resultant loss of income.
How to retain and develop your fundraisers: case study Anthony Nolan
So how can charities retain and develop their fundraisers, particularly their high performing ones? Why do fundraisers leave – and why do they stay?
Having led large, multi function Fundraising teams for over 20 years at national charities such as Breast Cancer Now and Battersea I’ve had direct experiences of the challenges of retention and development. At blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan I led a team of 36 fundraisers in roles from Assistants to Heads. At one point our average length of service in the entry level and middle roles was less than 18 months. Realising this was hampering our ability to grow our supporter base and income, we developed a new approach to staff development and retention.
We explored why fundraisers were leaving (reviewing exit interview notes, talking to line managers and staff) but we also talked to fundraisers about why they were staying. Key insights came from these discussions. Fundraisers were moving for career progression, particularly for line management. They feared if they didn’t move they would be left behind by their peers. Occasionally they were moving for location (we were based in Hampstead) and sometimes for money. They were staying because they were motivated by the charity’s cause and wanted to build a successful fundraising team and enjoyed working with their colleagues.
Staff retention plan and how we implemented it
This feedback led to us to develop a staff retention plan which focused on 4 key areas:
1. Setting a clear, ambitious goal, which was relevant to everyone. Our goal was to double net income in 5 years which would enable Anthony Nolan to save more lives. As Director, I constantly referred to this – and explained how the goal related to each team member’s work and how we needed all of us to make it happen. The goal resonated with the team because it was simple, clear and tangible and we could track progress towards it. But most important of all, it was relevant to everyone’s jobs – it became a golden thread through which team members could relate their day to day work to our overall purpose and know they were making a difference.
2. Creating genuine internal promotion opportunities. Fundraisers want to progress in their careers and in a sector where pay increases are linked to promotion not performance, and the job market is very buoyant, internal promotion opportunities are key to retention. We were clear and consistent that internal promotion had to be on merit and would never be automatic. But we encouraged people to go for promotions, and to consider moving into different teams to broaden their experience. Once internal candidates began to be successful – and particularly once internal appointments were made to senior roles – team members saw they didn’t automatically have to leave to progress their careers.
3. Investing in personal development, particularly via coaching. Having meaningful opportunities to learn and develop was key and we delivered a traditional programme of training, conferences and networking. But we invested in external coaching to support team members taking key development steps such as transitioning to line management or team leadership roles. We used Insights profiles to enable staff to understand their preferred working style and how it related to others; provided 121 and team coaching; and invested in coaching-led development programmes for key teams as such the Senior Managers and Managers. We found coaching was a really powerful tool for Managers and staff.
4. Focusing on success – and what made people successful. The importance of celebrating success is well known, particularly in result-driven areas like Fundraising. As well as celebrating successes, we focused on why we were being successful. What learnings could we take when we won a partnership or hit a campaign target? How could those apply to other areas? What attributes did our successful Fundraisers have and how could they play to their strengths even more?
Outcomes and learnings
Our staff retention plan increased the average length of service in non-Managerial roles at Anthony Nolan from under 18 months to over 2.5 years. We retained a core group of Managers for an average length of stay of 4-5 years, with two thirds of the Senior team being internally promoted. We scored the top rating in the Best Companies survey. Most importantly of all, together we achieved our goal of doubling net income in 5 years a year ahead of schedule – and continued to grow the following year as our momentum continued.
If your team is finding it difficult to retain fundraisers, or you are concerned that you may not be able to hold onto your star fundraisers, contact me to find out how I can help you retain and develop your team.
I can help you:
· Benchmark the performance of your fundraisers to help identify your star performers
· Review your staff retention levels and identify what is making fundraisers move from your organisation, and what is making them stay
· Develop and deliver a bespoke training and development programme for your team, focused on retention and growth
· Provide 121 coaching and mentoring for your key fundraisers to enable them to develop and build their career with you
For an initial discussion on this, contact me at cmilesconsulting@outlook.com