December 9, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
It is not uncommon for fund raisers to earn annual bonuses for meeting goals, such as conducting a certain number of visits with donors or obtaining written pledge agreements.
Because such bonuses are not based on a percentage of the money raised from donors — which is against the ethical standards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and other organizations — the payments are generally accepted. But at least one consultant working in higher education says the bonuses are “appalling.”
“Why should the man or woman who gets a number of donors to sign commitments receive a bonus when many people in several of the institution’s departments, academic as well as administrative, probably played roles in securing those contributions?” writes communications consultant John Ross in an opinion piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Mr. Ross waves aside the argument that bonuses to fund raisers are not based on a percentage of the money raised. The payments, he argues, “seem to be triggered by the number and amount of contributions. Does that not make bonuses subject to the same issues associated with percentage-based compensation?”
Mr. Ross was attracted to work in higher education for, as he writes, “the lifestyle and values inherent in simply doing good work.” Bonuses, he says, “should have no place in such a culture.”
He concludes with the observation that Duke University ended its practice of paying bonuses of $1,000 to $2,000 to fund-raising staff members five years ago, an action that others “might do well to heed.”
As a fund raiser, do you earn a bonus? What do you think of Mr. Ross’s arguments? Are bonuses a fair and ethical means of compensation?
