Your lead fundraiser resigned. Now what?

Nonprofit executives, imagine that your trusted and beloved Director of Development (or VP or CDO) just gave 4 weeks' notice. 😱

Upon hearing the news, you warmly congratulate your colleague as you break out into a sweat. The Development team tries to hide their panic.

How will you replace this respected professional who is your strategic partner, who your donors like, and who keeps the entire fundraising team motivated in annual fund, grants, events, marketing, donor data management, stewardship, major gifts, and All. The. Things.?

Sometimes, jumping into a new recruitment process feels right—and sometimes, it just doesn't. Maybe you don't have the time to launch a big search right now. Maybe there are actually a couple of things you want to tweak in the role before finding a new director.

Whatever the reason, you wish for a lifeline. An interim solution. Someone who:

🆘 Gets what you're going through.

🆘Deeply understands fundraising and the responsibilities of Development leadership.

🆘Can examine the director role and help you think through adjustments.

🆘The fundraising team can count on for guidance, hands-on collaboration, and encouragement.

🆘Can keep the trains running on time.

🆘Doesn't try to shove their ways of doing things into your workflow, but flexes to help you and the team find solutions and deepen best practices.

You wonder, does support like this even exist?

YES! Sarah J Consulting offers an interim fundraising leadership engagement that typically lasts 8-12 months. It's successful because:

🤩 We speak your language. We understand your pain points. We'll take things off your plate, approach the work through an organizational lens, and even provide a bit of therapy.

🤩 We know a lot about fundraising. (Like, a lot.) We help staff members with their individual responsibilities and take on team-wide tasks, such as fundraising plans or board reports.

🤩We are super quick studies. We've seen it all. We can size up a situation in record time.

🤩 We roll up our sleeves. We fix data reports. We ghostwrite donor letters. We help set sponsorship levels. We run committee meetings. We staff events.

🤩We schedule regular check-in meetings with you and each team member. We're clear communicators who make sure staff have constant guidance and support.

🤩We genuinely like people.

Executive directors who hired SJC as an interim fundraising leader say that we:

"...had the answers we needed for major gifts and campaign strategy. They wanted us to achieve our mission, rather than their version of our mission; they don’t have a cookie cutter way of approaching the work."

"...gave thoughtful, knowledgeable and amiable guidance when we needed them."

"...excel at listening. They continually asked us what our needs were and tailored the engagement from there. "

While I hope your Development leader stays at your org for years, we're here if you need us. Email us any time!