What Makes a Great Major Donor Fundraiser? The Six Attributes That Matter Most
Why great major donor fundraisers are hard to find — and harder to develop
The six attributes that consistently set the best major donor fundraisers apart are tenacity, creativity, warmth, organisation, longevity and confidence. Some are straightforward to assess at interview. Others are harder to see in advance and the wrong call on any one of them can cost a charity two years of lost donor momentum. Beth Upton explains what each attribute looks like in practice, and where to look for evidence of it before you hire.
1. Tenacity
This is two-fold, internal and external; the fundraiser needs to be tenacious internally to get the information and stories that they need to inspire donors, from finance, programmes and communications teams – this requires pro-activity, not passivity; externally the fundraiser needs to be hungry to meet donors and prospects – above all elements of the cultivation process, it is meeting donors which is the most important.
Top Tip:
Look for fundraisers who want to know the big picture plans for the charity and are keen to attend strategic meetings across the organisation.
2. Creativity
Charities are curious beasts, often intangible, disparate in nature and visionary. This inevitably means that major donor fundraisers struggle to pull together clear project asks, with short-term and long-term goals. Packaging the work of any charity cannot be passed around department to department or delegated to communications or programmes team; the major donor fundraiser must take ownership and be creative to present the day to day work of the charity as emotive impact, powerful and necessary.
Top Tip:
Look for people who have experience of packaging core work into attractive projects and don’t become negative when this requires extensive bridge-building and follow up.
3. Warmth
This may seem obvious, but far too many fundraisers hide behind their desks, sending out remote communications, sorting donors on spreadsheets and planning the next cultivation event. The very best major donor fundraisers love meeting donors and look forward to their next face to face encounter. More importantly, donors enjoy meeting them and look forward to their next meeting. This relationship building also negates the need for time-poor senior leaders in the charity being required to carry the majority of donor-facing activity.
Top Tip:
Ask how they would spend their first three months in post. If the answer is planning and researching, move on.
4. Organisation
This is especially important as the individual needs to able to prioritise donors in a structured way. Ad hoc major donor fundraising might have the odd success, but it is a long-term path to stagnation and failure. Great fundraisers are able to spend their limited time wisely – this means spending focused time with the very top prospects who can make the biggest impact – they need to know who these people are.
Top Tip:
Look for someone who wants to account manage a prospect list of 20-50, not 100s.
5. Longevity
A hard one to predict, as fundraisers are free to move on at any time, notice permitting, but the donors we speak to rate having a single, long-standing point of contact as a key factor in their giving decision making. Many top donors stop giving when their point of contact at the charity leaves and their relationship with the charity wanes. A significant donation may take 2-3 years to secure – if fundraisers come and go, this dramatically reduces their chances of being successful in post.
Top Tip:
Does the fundraiser switch jobs every two years? If so, challenge their genuine passion for your cause.
6. Confidence
This is a tough one to include, as so many fundraisers have imposter syndrome and are fearful of failure, but this individual needs to give donors confidence in the charity and convince those internally that major donor fundraising is an essential part of the organisation’s future success. Confidence will give the fundraiser access to key stakeholders who all need to be involved in donor cultivation and asking.
Top Tip:
Try to recruit people who are successful outside of work (e.g. sports, music, running committees or groups) as this can build confidence to take into the role. It also adds to their abilities to find common ground with a range of potential donors.
If you are recruiting for this role, we can also help you assess whether your organisation is ready to support someone in it.
Not sure if your programme has the right foundations?
Our free Major Donor Scorecard assesses your programme across six key areas, including team and organisational readiness. Take it in 10 minutes.