Jacks of All Trades May be Masters of None

To the Editor:

On the whole, I agree with Holly Hall’s analysis of new skills fund raisers need (“People Skills No Longer Sufficient for Fund Raisers,” April 8). But I would argue with two of Ms. Hall’s points:

• She quotes Zachary Smith as saying that he “now wants to see ’60 percent analytical skills and 40 percent people skills’” in front-line development staff. Many things have changed in my 35-plus years in the profession, but one thing hasn’t: People still give to people; they don’t give to data. And donors are not “data points,” despite the fact that far too many in our field think about them that way.

  Development offices surely need more ability to use the data we have to make efficient use of limited resources. But that expertise does not necessarily need to reside in individual major-gifts officers. In fact, facility in designing prospect cultivation and solicitation strategies, and working with donors to help them accomplish their philanthropic goals while supporting one’s institution, is generally antithetical to skill in data analysis.

  Both need to be done, but not necessarily by a single person. In trying to find development staff who can do both, we are likely to hire people who do neither very well.

• There is no doubt that nonprofits can be much more creative about revenue generation. But I believe we need to be careful about blurring the line between philanthropy and earned income. For centuries, voluntary giving is one of the things that has distinguished nonprofits from business enterprises. By making a “department of money-making ventures” part of the development office, we run the risk of devaluing the role of philanthropy. Business development can be important, but it belongs elsewhere within the organization. In addition, the skills and training required to start and run a profitable business are not necessarily the same as those of successful major-gifts officers or data analysts.

In lean times, nonprofits are asking staff members to take on more responsibility for more tasks. Many are pushing employees to learn new skills—almost always a good thing. But they risk burnout and turnover by setting up unrealistic expectations that individual development officers can master a huge and sometimes conflicting range of interpersonal, strategic, analytic, entrepreneurial, business, and technical skills.

By asking one person to bring it all, none of it may get done at the high levels our organizations need.

Kimberly Hawkins
Partner
Raybin Associates
New York