Here’s a question that keeps nonprofit leaders up at night: How do we stop cycling through fundraising staff every 18 months?

The answer isn’t found in salary negotiations or better interview questions. It’s found in six foundational decisions that either create an environment where development professionals thrive—or one where they’re already planning their exit before they finish onboarding.

Research tells us that 51% of fundraisers plan to leave their current organization within two years, and half of those are considering leaving the profession entirely. But here’s what the data also reveals: lack of growth opportunity (59.7%) and organizational culture issues (26.2%) drive turnover far more than compensation alone (47.6%).

Translation? The organizations successfully retaining fundraising talent have made fundamentally different decisions about how development fits into their structure and strategy.

If you’re preparing to hire fundraising talent—or wondering why you can’t seem to keep the talent you have—these six decisions will determine whether you build a team that transforms your fundraising capacity or a revolving door that drains it.

The single biggest predictor of fundraising turnover? Unrealistic expectations about what one person (or an understaffed team) can accomplish.

Too many organizations approach development staffing with magical thinking: “If we just hire the right Chief Development Officer, they’ll transform our fundraising.” Or “We’ll start with a Director of Development and add more staff once revenue increases.”

This is backwards.

What this looks like in practice:

• Your annual fund needs consistent cultivation, acknowledgment, and donor communication—that’s not sustainable with one person also managing major gifts, grants, and events
• If you’re expecting year-over-year growth, you need adequate staffing before the growth happens, not after
• Small development teams need clearly defined roles, not “wear all hats” job descriptions that guarantee burnout

The decision to make: Before you post your next development position, conduct a honest assessment: Given our current revenue goals and donor portfolio, how many full-time roles does this actually require? Then staff accordingly—or adjust your expectations.

Organizations that retain development talent staff for the work that needs to be done, not for the budget they wish they had.

Here’s a truth that separates organizations with strong retention from those with chronic turnover: Is your development leader treated as a strategic partner in organizational planning, or as a transactional ATM who shows up when you need money?

Research consistently shows that development professionals leave when they’re excluded from strategy, kept out of key decisions, and viewed as support staff rather than mission-critical leadership.

What this looks like in practice:

• Your CDO, Director of Development, or VP of Advancement has a seat at the leadership table and weighs in on organizational direction—not just fundraising tactics
• Development staff are included in program planning early, not handed finished initiatives and told “now go raise money for this”
• Fundraising isn’t siloed in one department; it’s understood as central to mission delivery

The decision to make: If you’re hiring a senior development leader, be honest in your interview process: Are you hiring them to execute a fundraising plan the board already decided on, or to partner with you in shaping strategy? One approach attracts talent. The other creates turnover.

Top fundraising professionals won’t stay in organizations where they’re viewed as order-takers rather than strategic advisors.

Nothing kills morale faster than fundraising goals that appear out of thin air, disconnected from capacity, history, or market reality.

When boards set revenue targets based on what they want to spend rather than what’s achievable, and when development staff are excluded from the budgeting process, you create a recipe for failure—and turnover.

What this looks like in practice:

• Your development team has input into revenue projections and can explain the strategy behind the numbers
• Fundraising goals are tied to specific strategies with timelines: “We’ll increase major gifts by 20% through X new prospects, Y visits, Z proposals over 18 months”
• When goals increase, resources and staffing increase proportionally—you’re not just asking people to work harder
• The board understands that relationship-based fundraising takes time; you don’t expect someone to walk in and immediately close six-figure gifts

The decision to make: Before finalizing next year’s budget, bring your development leadership into the conversation. Ask them: “Given our current capacity and donor pipeline, what’s realistic? What would we need to add to reach a stretch goal?” Then believe them.

Organizations with strong retention trust their development professionals’ expertise instead of imposing aspirational numbers disconnected from reality.

Want to know why younger development professionals leave? They can’t see where they’re headed.

When your organizational chart shows a Development Coordinator reporting to a Director of Development who’s been in the role for 12 years with no advancement in sight, talented early-career fundraisers will leave to find growth elsewhere. The data backs this up: lack of career development opportunity is the #1 reason people leave nonprofit roles.

What this looks like in practice:

• You have a clear structure: Coordinator → Manager → Director → CDO, with transparent criteria for advancement
• Professional development isn’t a luxury; it’s built into every development role (conference attendance, AFP membership, training opportunities)
• You promote from within when possible and publicly celebrate advancement
• Even in small shops, you create lateral growth opportunities: special projects, committee leadership, mentorship roles

The decision to make: Map out what career growth looks like in your organization over the next 3-5 years. If the answer is “there isn’t any,” either create pathways or be honest with candidates that this is a role with a natural endpoint—and plan accordingly.

Organizations that retain development talent show people where they can go, not just what they’ll do.

Here’s an uncomfortable question: Is your board actively engaged in fundraising as ambassadors and solicitors, or does “board engagement” mean occasionally attending events and expecting staff to do all the heavy lifting?

Development professionals consistently cite board disengagement as a major frustration. When staff are carrying the entire fundraising load while board members consider themselves “not fundraisers,” you create unsustainable pressure and set up your development team for failure.

What this looks like in practice:

• Every board member makes a personal gift at a meaningful level
• Board members make donor introductions, cultivation calls, and participate in solicitations
• The board chair and development committee actively partner with development staff—they don’t delegate and disappear
• New board members receive clear expectations about their fundraising role before they join
• Board members publicly champion the mission and bring the development team into their networks

The decision to make: Before you hire your next development professional, assess your board’s fundraising engagement honestly. If it’s minimal, address it first—or be transparent with candidates that they’ll be building this culture from scratch (and give them authority to do so).

Top fundraising talent won’t stay in organizations where boards expect staff to do all the work while they remain passive observers.

You wouldn’t ask your finance team to manage the budget on sticky notes and Excel 1998. Yet countless organizations hire development professionals and then refuse to invest in the CRM systems, prospect research tools, marketing resources, and operational support they need to succeed.

When fundraisers spend half their time on data entry, fighting with outdated systems, or creating materials because there’s no marketing support, you waste expensive talent on low-value tasks—and they leave.

What this looks like in practice:

• You have a functional donor database with adequate training and support
• Development staff have access to prospect research tools and wealth screening when needed
• Marketing and communications support fundraising with donor-facing materials
• There’s budget for donor cultivation (meals, small gifts, event costs)
• Technology actually works—no one is manually tracking major donor moves in spreadsheets

The decision to make: Calculate what percentage of your annual budget goes toward development operations (not salaries—actual tools, systems, and resources). If it’s under 5%, you’re under-resourcing the team responsible for bringing in 100% of your contributed revenue.

Organizations that retain development talent resource them like the revenue generators they are, not like an expense to minimize.

Here’s the reality: the difference between organizations that cycle through development staff every 18 months and those that build teams with 5+ year tenures isn’t luck. It’s not even salary, though competitive compensation matters.

It’s these six foundational decisions.

When you staff for capacity, integrate development into leadership, set collaborative goals, create career pathways, engage your board, and properly resource your team—you’re not just improving retention statistics. You’re creating the conditions for fundraising success that compounds over time.

The organizations we work with that have cracked this code? They’re not just filling positions. They’re building development teams where talented professionals want to stay and grow—and their fundraising results prove it.

If you’re preparing to hire fundraising talent, the question isn’t just “Who should we hire?” It’s “Have we made the six decisions that will help them succeed and stay?”

Ready to build a development team that transforms your fundraising capacity—and actually sticks around to see it through? Let’s talk about how to position your organization to attract and retain the talent that will make the difference.

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