Picture this: a highly professional, suit-clad individual (replete with halo) descends upon your organization and pulls from her briefcase handfuls of happy, generous donors. You pay this rainmaker a high salary and she’s worth it, right? After all she promised a lot and she delivered.
Wake up! I’m sorry to tell you that after 25 years in the fundraising business, I’ve not seen any evidence that the fundraising rainmaker is anything more than a fantasy. Yes, I’ve seen job candidates make rainmaker promises about rolodexes full of prospects who are loyal to them personally. But deliver? Nope.
I believe the myth of the fundraising rainmaker persists not so much because of the people who present themselves as such, but because of eternally hopeful organizations that really wish it could be true.
Whether you’re job seeking or hiring, don’t buy into the myth. At least two basic facts preclude it from becoming a reality:
It’s unethical for fundraisers to “bring” donors from one organization to another, unless they had a prior relationship. Of course you can’t raid a donor database for contact or other information and take it with you wherever you please. The Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Code of Ethics has a few clauses that speak to this issue, one of which clearly states that a fundraiser won’t exploit a donor relationship for his or her own gain. If bandying around donor names like you’ve got them in your back pocket so you can get a job isn’t exploitative, I don’t know what is.
It’s unrealistic to think anyone can deliver donors at high dollar entry points. Most first time gifts to any organization, even from the wealthiest donors, are relatively small. It typically takes 18-36 months for someone to become a major gifts donor. The term “major” is defined differently for every organization. For a grassroots organization, it might be $1,000. For a university, it’s more like $100,000. Wherever you are on the spectrum, it’s unlikely that a rainmaker is going to populate your major gifts pool in short order.
If you’re in the job market and an organization is expecting you to produce donors from out of the blue, ask yourself why. Chances are good they’re looking for an easy fix for the fundraising woes. Why do they have those woes? Maybe because they’re looking for an easy fix.
Fundraising is hard work, it takes time, it takes investment, it takes a team approach, and it takes tremendous respect for the donor. If an organization isn’t willing to put all these things into their fundraising program, walk away.
If you’re an organization looking for a rainmaker, be wary and get real. There is no easy fix. If a candidate for your development job tells you they’ve got a pocket full of donors, don’t believe ‘em. They’re either lying or they’re up to some shady stuff.
Fundraising as a profession is doomed if the donor isn’t held in highest possible esteem. The myth of the fundraising rainmaker undermines the power and integrity of the donor.
Let’s drop that myth and get on with the real work of empowering donors to achieve their own goals and ambitions through us. Not vice versa.
