As James points out in the study, they put the emphasis on what the employee does for the nonprofit, rather than what the employee does for the donor.
#MAJOR GIFT MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION SOFTWARE#
Go search LinkedIn for “Director of Development” and many of the results you’ll find are sales positions (“Business Development”) or tech related, where the word “development” refers to software development.Īnother problem with the language of “development” and “advancement” is that these terms are about the organization. They are euphemisms for fundraising, and they are used very differently in different industries. One part of the equation seems to be that they are very vague to those outside of the fundraising profession. Why might it be that “development” and “advancement” are such ineffective terms in titles, when nearly all organizations are using them? FUNDRAISERS SERVE THE DONOR-NOT JUST THE ORGANIZATION Russell James’ study gives us some of the best information we are likely to get on the question. No donors will tell you that they want to receive special recognition or benefits, yet when you offer them recognition and benefits repeatedly and consistently (even if they turn them down!), you will certainly raise more money from those donors over time.įor some types of information, this difference between stated preferences and real behavior is easier to overcome in the design of a test or experiment, while for others-like the effectiveness of different job titles-it is nearly impossible. This is a classic problem in research in the fundraising sphere: while no donors will tell you that a mailing effects their contributions, still so many donors (for some mysterious reason!) always give in the week following the receipt of a solicitation. Who the respondents say they would reach out to may not in fact align with who they would actually reach out to. More important, however, is that the study asked people who they would reach out to, so there is possible self-perception bias. Many of the highest performing titles in the study, therefore, contained words specific to planned giving. A minor issue is that ordinary cash gifts were not one of the options probed. There are major caveats with this work, of course. LACK OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE: AN IMPERFECT STUDY Titles that focus on the gift itself-like “Chief Individual Giving Officer” or the often-maligned “Director of Major Gifts” are at least admirably middle of the pack. The best performers, it turns out-the people donors are most likely to actively reach out to-are the ones that focus on the donor and what that person can do for the donor, such as “Director of Donor Advising” or “Chief Donor Officer”. The worst performers, it turns out, are the job titles we see most often: ones containing the words “Development” or “Advancement.” “Philanthropy”, “Stewardship”, and “External Relations” titles also stink. The 2016 study asked thousands of people to rate who they would reach out to at a nonprofit if they wanted to make a complex gift (scenarios included a stock gift, an estate gift, and a gift of real estate gift) among over 60 different possible job titles.
#MAJOR GIFT MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION FULL#
The full study, “Testing the Effectiveness of Fundraiser Job Titles in Charitable Bequest and Complex Gift Planning,” is of course a delightful choice of reading for your holiday break, but it is paywalled unless you have a subscription to Nonprofit Management & Leadership. In search of empirical guidance on this question I recently ran across a fascinating study by Russell James, the Texas Tech professor and all around planned giving guru. Who would want to meet with a major gifts officer, they think, when the job title practically screams that you are about to ask them to empty their wallets?
I’ve often heard that nonprofit leaders decide to avoid common fundraising titles like “major gifts officer” because they fear that it would scare off donors. But it turns out that it might actually be worth taking a look-and not just because it doesn’t cost you a dime in new expenses. One thing I can bet is not on the menu is an overhaul of your development team’s job titles. What’s on your list for 2020 improvements to your fundraising program? More gifts officers, better mail testing, more investments in digital?
The crucial thing is that they avoid jargon and put the donor first. A new study by Nonprofit Management & Leadership investigates the best job titles for fundraisers.
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