At this year’s San Diego Foundation Fundraising Conference, our team led a session on a challenge every development leader eventually confronts – how do you build a fundraising team that wants to stay and grow?
It is a timely question. Fundraising runs on people and relationships, which means the cost of losing talent is rarely contained to a single departure. When a fundraiser leaves, donor relationships lose continuity and institutional knowledge walks out with them. Pipelines stall while the role sits open, and the rest of the team absorbs the extra load. New hires then need time to rebuild the trust and credibility their predecessor had already earned and this is rarely time that the organization has to spare.
That is why we framed the session around a single idea: retention is not only an HR priority. It is a fundraising strategy.
“Donor relationships take years to build, and they walk out the door with the person who built them. That is exactly why the hire matters so much. The goal is never to fill a seat. It is to place someone who will still be raising money here in five years.” — Trevor Blair, CEO
Why fundraisers leave is rarely one thing
The decision to leave almost always builds over time rather than arriving in a single moment. When we look at what pushes strong fundraisers out, the same drivers surface again and again: compensation that does not reflect the real scope of the role, burnout and compassion fatigue, limited pathways to grow, roles that quietly expand through mission creep, inconsistent or absent supervision, a lack of recognition, and a gap between what the organization expects and the resources it actually provides. Leadership and culture sit underneath all of this.
The flip side is just as clear. Fundraisers stay when the workload is manageable, priorities are clear, development is supported, contributions are acknowledged and valued, and supervisors are visibly invested in their success.
Put those two lists side by side and a pattern emerges. Retention is built through everyday experiences, not a single initiative or one-time perk.
The supervisor relationship shapes the daily experience
If there was one theme the room kept returning to, it was that more than any program or benefit, the relationship with a direct supervisor defines what work feels like day to day.
Strong supervisors share a recognizable set of behaviors. They communicate priorities clearly. They provide context instead of just handing out assignments. They make time for meaningful one-on-one conversations. They also take the time to give feedback that is both timely and constructive and address the barriers getting in the way of performance. Trust grows when a leader’s words, expectations, and actions stay consistent.
That kind of trust is built in conversation, and the conversations that matter go well beyond status updates. The most useful ones regularly touch five areas:
- Performance – what is working, and where more support is needed
- Priorities – what matters most right now, and what can wait
- Capacity – whether the workload is genuinely sustainable
- Development – what skills or experiences would fuel continued growth
- Career direction – what the employee actually wants to work toward
The timing matters as much as the content. If the only time you discuss someone’s future is the annual review, you are already behind.
“The organizations that keep their best fundraisers are not the ones with the biggest budgets. They are the ones where a supervisor treats career growth as a regular conversation instead of an annual event. That consistency is what tells a fundraiser they have a future worth staying for.” — Katie Do, Client Services Director
From filling seats to developing careers
Many organizations still manage roles the traditional way. They fill the vacancy, complete onboarding, assign a portfolio, monitor performance, and respond when the employee raises a concern. It is orderly, but unfortunately, it’s reactive.
A career-centric approach shifts the work earlier. It starts by understanding the employee’s own goals, establishing shared expectations, creating intentional development opportunities, discussing growth on a regular cadence, and treating retention as an ongoing leadership responsibility rather than a fire to fight when someone gives notice.
Development does not have to mean a promotion or a new title. It can look like managing more complex donor relationships, leading a campaign or special initiative, joining organizational strategy discussions, presenting to the board or a committee, mentoring a colleague, or taking on expanded responsibility with the right support and recognition behind it. The point is to make growth visible, intentional, and connected to where the person wants to go.
Three forms of support work together here, and they are easy to confuse.
- Mentorship provides guidance, perspective, and professional insight.
- Sponsorship creates visibility and actively advocates for advancement or opportunity.
- Coaching builds specific skills, behaviors, and performance.
Each does something the others cannot, and effective leaders help their people access all three. The goal is not simply to keep someone. It is to help them grow.
Small actions, big impact
One of the most encouraging takeaways is that meaningful retention rarely depends on a bigger budget. Some of the highest-impact levers cost little or nothing. Regular career conversations, meaningful recognition, flexible work arrangements where the role allows, access to leadership, celebrating milestones and achievements, individual development plans, and a simple workload check-in during peak periods. These are all small leadership actions that consistently punch above their weight.
A practical next step for your team
If you lead a fundraising team, the session closed with an exercise worth running this week. Ask yourself four questions:
- What are we doing well that helps fundraisers feel supported and valued?
- Where are we vulnerable, and what could cause a strong employee to leave?
- How would our employees actually describe their experience of supervision, workload, recognition, and growth?
- And what is one meaningful action we could take now that does not require a major budget or policy change?
Then turn the answers into a plan. One consistent change tends to matter more than a long list of good intentions.
The real measure
The clearest test of retention is what your fundraisers would say about working for you. Ideally, it sounds something like this: I understand what is expected of me, and I know my contributions are recognized. I get honest feedback and real support, along with genuine opportunities to learn and grow. My supervisor is invested in my success, and I can see a future for myself here.
A team that wants to stay is built intentionally. That was the message we brought to the San Diego Foundation Fundraising Conference, and it is the work we help organizations do every day.
Blair Search Partners is a retained executive search firm based in San Diego, partnering with nonprofits and public agencies to build and keep strong leadership teams. Learn more at blairsearchpartners.com.