Hiring, Retaining, and (re)Training Fundraising Staff

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

10am - 11:30am CST Zoom

Workshop: $50

About this Session: The fundraising sector--like so many--has been buffeted by substantial change over the past four years. Many practices, approaches, and engagement methods no longer net the same return on investment as they did a decade ago, and a new generation of fundraisers are entering the field in the COVID-19 era. Compounding these realities, fundraiser staff turnover remains stubbornly high within the sector, resulting in unexpected and unbudgeted costs that can stymie an organization's forward progress. These are some of the many considerations that nonprofit executives, Boards, current fundraising staff, and persons tasked with hiring, retention, and capacity building functions need to keep in mind.

Please join us for this discussion to learn:

1) How to find fundraisers who align with both your revenue needs and your organization's impact (and to successfully convey what you need),

2) How to keep your fundraising staff for longer (and thus reduce expensive personnel turnover), and,

3) How to "re-train" fundraisers who may remember and utilize the "status quo" of a fundraising sector that no longer exists.

The presentation will focus on these three key objectives, and will provide detailed advice, examples (of both successes, and of risks to avoid), and collaborative small group breakouts. It is recommended that nonprofit personnel who manage any component of the HR function for fundraising staff attend this discussion, and attendees will receive real-life, tactical recommendations that they can take with them.

Who Should Participate: Board chairs, executive directors, development staff and human resources

About the Presenter: Sidney C. Freitag-Fey, MA, CFRE, Chief Development Officer, Delta Institute

Sidney (Sid) has more than 18 years of resource development experience with expertise in individual giving (annual fund, major gifts, and planned giving); board relations and recruitment; grant writing and prospecting; corporate sponsorship; event planning fundraising strategy; and marketing. Currently he is the director of development and marketing for Delta Institute, a $4M 501c3 that works with communities throughout the Midwest to solve environmental and economic needs. Sid previously served as development director for a small regenerative farming and food safety nonprofit, a gifts officer for Heartland Alliance for Human Rights & Human Needs, and in steadily increasing development roles for multiple Chicago-based social service agencies since 2006. He is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Mongolia; was adjunct faculty at Loyola University Chicago; and has been a presenter for the Axelson Center since 2014. He is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), and a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association.