“Bringing a Development Officer on Board” and “Establishing Your Development Office.” These sources recommend among other things that development be given a primary role within the organization and that the chief development officer should be part of the management team. Often, organizations do not understand the key role development plays and place the development office in an inappropriate location on the organizational chart.

Once you’ve decided on a development position, it is critical to have a job description in place outlining the expectations of the development staff. If you need help with developing a job description, you can again contact the AFP Resource Center for samples. You may want to consider engaging a consultant to help you develop the right staffing structure and job descriptions specific for your organization. Compensation will be an important area to consider. There are numerous sources available to help with comparable salaries for the type of organization, the geographic locality in which you are situated, the budget of the organization, as well as the level of experience and the duties of the development staff. One thing that is always important is that development staff should never be compensated on a percentage or commission basis. This is unethical according to the AFP code of ethics and can put the organization in a dangerous position, particularly if such salary structures become public knowledge. It is important to remember that the development staff should always have reasonable but visionary goals and should have the skills to develop an action plan for achieving these goals.

What type of person is best suited for development work? In his book, Born to Raise, Jerold Panas describes the qualities that make up a good fundraiser, and the number one quality he lists is Impeccable Integrity. Often hiring an experienced fundraiser is not possible because of the budget of a smaller start up organization and the dilemma is where to find a good fundraise who does not have the experience needed. Many times, organizations that are new to the fundraising arena think that if someone is a good salesperson, they will automatically be a good fundraiser. This is not always the case. Fundraising is a professions and needs to be recognized as such. A good fundraiser, in addition to the impeccable integrity already mentioned, should be a good listener, an energetic worker, a good communicator, be enthusiastic about the mission of the organization and should be willing to learn the technical aspects of the profession of fundraising.

In cases where an inexperienced person is hired, it may be beneficial for the organization to engage an experienced consultant who can work with and train the new development staff. And, professional development of a person new to development will be critical. Be sure to get them enrolled in a professional association like AFP, send them to conferences and workshops where they can get the training they need to be successful. And suggest that they find a mentor to help them grow as a professional fundraiser.
 

We have an exciting new training opportunity coming up in January 2007. On Friday January 12, 2007, CAPITAL VENTURE will partner with Access One Grant Writing to present, Funding Your Capital Project in Henderson, NV. This all day workshop features two of the country’s top trainers who will cover Funding Your Capital Project with Grants and Funding Your Capital Project with a Capital Campaign. Cost is just $99 per person and additional participants from the same organization can attend for a reduced fee of $79 per person. See our website for a complete flyer and registration form — www.cvfundraising.com/Funding Your Capital Project.

On the subject of training, we have developed a Training Catalogue, which is available by email. We offer a wide variety of workshops available for groups such as AFP chapters, statewide associations, national organizations, Dioceses, United Ways and Centers for Nonprofits. If you would like to receive a copy of our training catalogue, please contact Linda at Linda@cvfundraising.com.