April 22, 1999 | Read Time: 4 minutes
To offset escalating problems in finding and keeping senior-level fund raisers, charities have begun to offer generous financial bonuses,
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sabbaticals, country-club memberships, and other perks that previously were rarely awarded to development officers.
One increasingly popular benefit, executive recruiters say, is the “signing bonus” given to fund raisers as soon as they accept an offer. Such bonuses, usually in the range of 5 to 15 per cent of a new fund raiser’s salary, help sweeten the pot for candidates who may be undecided or have demanded a higher salary than the charity wants to pay. And they are attractive to non-profit leaders because they are a one-time expense rather than a permanent salary hike.
The Alzheimer’s Association, in Chicago, for example, started offering signing bonuses in the 5- to 10-per-cent range two years ago as it encountered trouble recruiting fund raisers with expertise in soliciting big gifts.
While many groups are making tempting offers like signing bonuses, other charities are taking preventive steps to avoid losing their best fund raisers. Some are offering the opposite of a signing bonus — and rewarding people who have spent many years at an institution. Scott Nichols, associate dean for development at Harvard Law School, says that such a “longevity bonus” kept fund raisers from jumping ship during his institution’s last capital campaign, a $183-million drive that ended in 1995.
Mr. Nichols says he and his boss realized that they needed to take action. While prestigious institutions like Harvard “were once immune to being raided,” says Mr. Nichols, that is no longer true. So, halfway through the law school’s four-year campaign, fund raisers were told that they would get a bonus if they stayed until the campaign was over.
When the campaign ended, the employees received a lump-sum payment, anywhere from 5 to 17.5 per cent of their salaries. The amounts were determined by Mr. Nichols and his boss, the law school’s dean, who judged the employees on how much they did to make the drive a success. In addition to their role in winning big gifts, the staff members were judged on such factors as the quality of their research on donors and their efforts to keep donor visits on schedule.
The strategy worked, says Mr. Nichols. Only one of 22 senior officers left before the campaign was over. And, while a majority of senior fund raisers did leave within two years after the campaign ended, he says, “we had to reorganize anyway, and the turnover came at a time that didn’t hurt the institution.”
Some non-profit organizations try to head off fund raisers’ departure by giving them raises at strategic times. For example, Elizabeth Roberts, director of development at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, and another senior fund raiser received a raise shortly after the vice-president for development announced his resignation. Leaders of the cancer institute offered the raises because they were concerned that other resignations might follow.
“It was a smart move,” says Ms. Roberts. “And yes, I did stick around.”
When bonuses or raises are not possible, institutions may be able to retain fund raisers with other incentives such as paid sabbaticals after grueling campaigns or other difficult assignments, says Christine Hoek, vice-president for planning and development at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in Virginia.
Ms. Hoek says that at her previous job, at Skidmore College, in New York, where she worked for 15 years, fund raisers and other employees were eligible for three to five months of paid leave after six years of service — as long as they agreed to return to the institution for at least as long as they’d been on sabbatical.
“I endorsed these sabbaticals for several development staff members, and I found them to be very beneficial in terms of retention and helping people retool,” says Ms. Hoek, who was the college’s vice-president for development until December.
While most charities cannot offer sabbaticals as generous as those at Skidmore, many could spare a fund raiser for a few weeks or even months after a big drive or at another slow time, Ms. Hoek says. Sabbaticals can be a cost-effective strategy, she notes, because they are often cheaper for the charity than recruiting and training new fund raisers.
“Paid leave can be very effective,” Ms. Hoek says, “because quality of life is often more important to people than extra pay.”
