by Anne (Coyle) Melanson, BPr, CFRE

Hiring ethical and talented fundraisers in today’s environment is not for the faint of heart.

Charities in this country are coming under heavy fire by mainstream media, and increasing scrutiny by the donor and legislative communities. (check the Non profit Newscan article at left). Sometimes its for good reason…but not always. 

Let’s face it, its a tough job to raise money for charities. Its competitive. Fundraising departments are often woefully underresourced, relative to the expectation for financial returns. In short, it can be a pressure cooker. No wonder the fundraising profession has unusually high turnover.

Its easy for the general public to forget that what most often draws talented, motivated people to the fundraising profession in the first place is the idea of “the greater good.” Most professionals I have come across in 22 years as a fundraiser chose this line of work because they truly wanted to make a societal difference. Don’t believe me? Talk with a fundraiser about how their job affects lives, community, society, health care, whatever. They get animated when given the opportunity to voice how their job helps leave the world a bit better off than when they found it.

But high turnover in the profession and the insatiable financial need of charities is having the inevitable result. There really are a few bad apples. Posers. Charlatains. Takers.

Looking to hire a fundraiser or fundraising consultant? Check, double-check and triple-check…references, the validity of the list of organizations they claim to have worked with, claims of funds raised. Take advice that was given to me by a successful entrepreneur — when you want to hire, take a long time to decide on the candidate. And when you feel strongly that you have the wrong person in the job, act swiftly.