- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 9 hours ago
Hiring a Director of Development (DOD) is one of the most consequential decisions a nonprofit will make. And yet, organizations get it wrong constantly.
We’ve all seen it: a DOD in one day and out the next. It is the revolving door position in nonprofits. Research backs this up. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the average Director of Development lasts just 18 months on the job.
I’ve seen it from every angle. Before founding Lotus, I spent years as a VP of Development, personally responsible for fundraising targets as high as $15 million a year. Over the course of my career, I’ve raised $100 million for the organizations I’ve served. The perspective I’m sharing here comes from having lived inside this role and from advising organizations every day — seeing firsthand what happens when this hire is done well and, far too often, what happens when it isn’t.
Boards overstep. Executive directors or HR directors without fundraising backgrounds make hiring calls they’re not equipped to make. And good organizations end up with the wrong person in a critical seat. The cost isn’t just a failed hire. It's missed targets, donor relationships left unattended, messy systems, and real money the organization needs that doesn’t get raised.
I want you to get this right! Here’s what I believe you need to know before you post that job description.
This is a complicated job. Hire accordingly.
Fundraising isn’t one thing — it’s many. A Director of Development is responsible for strategy and planning, managing to quarterly targets, major gifts, grants, development operations, donor stewardship, events, and in most organizations, managing staff and volunteers. That’s a wide surface area.
Too often, hiring committees focus on one dimension: “we need someone who can close major gifts,” or “we need a good events person,” or “we need someone who can get grants." They miss the full picture. You need someone who can hold complexity. Someone who thinks strategically, executes operationally, leads a team, and still picks up the phone to cultivate a donor. That person exists. And depending on how much you’re trying to raise and where that money needs to come from, there is room for trade-offs — but make them intentionally.
Results are the only thing that matters. Verify them.
A Director of Development who makes things look good or presents well but doesn’t raise money is not doing the job. I say this clearly and I mean it: results are the standard.
When you’re checking references, talk to their former boss, not just a colleague who liked them. Talk to the person who was watching their numbers. And when you’re interviewing the candidate, go deeper than the headline figure. Ask:
How much were you personally responsible for raising, and what did that include? Was it grants, major gifts, events, or some combination? A results-focused professional should know these numbers cold. If they can’t tell you the exact figure and the exact breakdown without hesitating, pay attention to that.
What was the largest gift you personally cultivated and closed?
Who helped you? Who else on the team or in leadership contributed to those results? Push for specifics: “When you were in the room for that conversation, who made the actual ask, you or your CEO?”
That last question matters more than people realize. “We raised $2 million” can mean many things. You need to know what they drove, what was already in motion when they arrived, and where the credit actually belongs. The best fundraisers are clear-eyed and honest about this — because they know that large gifts rarely happen through one person alone, and that pulling in the right people strategically is part of what makes them effective. If a candidate can’t give you that fuller picture, take note. It either means they’re not being honest with you, or they’re not strategic enough to have understood their own work. In my experience, both happen more than people expect. Either way, you deserve to know.
The resume will tell you what someone claims. The right questions, and honest references, will tell you what actually happened.
Match track record to target — precisely.
This is where I see organizations make expensive mistakes.
If your fundraising goal is $2 million, you should not hire someone whose track record is $250,000 a year. That is too much of a stretch, for them and for you. They're being set up to fail, and you're taking on a risk your organization can't afford.
At the same time, the candidate who has raised $5 million a year is almost certainly not looking at your position. And if they are, you should be asking why (unless this is their retirement or downsizing plan). Top performers in this field move up: more responsibility, bigger organizations, higher salaries. The pipeline of candidates who have successfully raised near your target — to give it a number, let’s say at +/- 60% of your goal — and who are ready for their next step, is exactly where you want to be looking.
The bottom line
Great Director of Development hires don’t happen by accident. They happen when leadership understands the complexity of the role, insists on verified results, and calibrates the hire to the actual ask.
Threading the needle isn’t simple. And, if you get this right, and you will, you're not just filling a seat. You're building the engine that powers your mission for years to come. That hire exists. Go find them.
Julie Cruit Angilly is the founder and principal of Lotus Revenue & Brand Consultants, a boutique fundraising consultancy serving nonprofits. Over the course of her career, she has raised $100 million and served as a VP of Development with personal responsibility for fundraising targets as high as $15 million annually. Lotus works with organizations to build stronger fundraising programs from the ground up. Learn more at grow-with-lotus.com.