It's no secret that nonprofit staff turnover can be high, especially in development positions. I see this regularly when Project Partners is called upon to pick up where a former staff member left off on a critical event, fundraising campaign, or community initiative.
Turnover is sometimes a result of staff moving out of town or to greener pastures within our profession. Too often, though, they leave this work altogether, after a lackluster performance, ongoing pressures for better performance, and a resulting negative attitude towards the job at hand. Staff members in this field can feel isolated, over-worked, unprepared for success, and usually have little guidance on how volunteers can make the job easier and more fun.
You can't do much about staff that move out of town or to greener pastures, but you can positively affect your current staffing team's success by providing a friendly, professional guiding hand and comprehensive on-the-job training. When coached by experts in the field, staff achievement can increase exponentially, resulting in a reduction in turnover - saving time, money, and trouble. Most importantly, your cause can be advanced and your mission fulfilled with less interruption.
When a seasoned development director recently resigned from a North Texas organization, Project Partners stepped in to advise, coach and direct the less-experienced associate left with a mission-critical fundraising project to complete. We coached her on strategy, implementation, and communications to donors and volunteers, and saw the project through with her to the end.
The associate obtained fast-track on-the-job training in real time and could see the direct results of her efforts. The volunteers were elated to see that their staff member could do the job, given the right tools, and the organization was thrilled because the project broke all previous fundraising records. Stop the revolving door. Train and retain your staff. Call on us to help.