Recruitment, Retention & Reality: An Insights Collab from KCI’s Benchmarking & Search Practices

Stability. [Back to the Future!]

As we leave the pandemic well in the rear-view mirror, it’s been interesting to look back and see how some things have begun to settle back to “typical” levels or experiences from before that time. For fun, we re-read the articles we did in 2020 about “The People Side of Fundraising”, based on the 2019 edition of our national study, and it’s fascinating how much of that data continues to hold true.   First, let’s talk about job vacancies.  Remember The Great Resignation? In 2022, challenges with turnover were top of mind for hiring managers everywhere, and our data backed that up with a big jump in the proportion of reported position vacancies from the 2019 study to the one in 2022:

In general, we found that many “front line” roles have much quicker turnover, either because people do well and move up within their organizations, or because they move on. So while things are settling down somewhat, the reality of fairly quick turnover in some types and levels of jobs is also continuing to be true. In KCI’s search work we hear from client organizations a preference to hire fundraisers who stay 2 or more years in order to gain traction, especially in major gift or face to face fundraising roles where time is needed to build relationships and move through identification to cultivation to solicitation – particularly for the larger gifts. So there in an inherent tension as ambitious and successful front line fundraisers are often looking for career advancement… and can sometimes find that by taking on new roles outside their current organization.

And one more thing that hasn’t changed: It takes a team for fundraisers to succeed. We continue to see that larger fundraising organizations invest proportionally more in non-fundraising roles; but raise more money per person and per fundraiser. Interestingly, small to mid-size organizations have “closed the gap” compared to the values we saw in 2019, published in our “The People Side of Fundraising”. Given this, it isn’t surprising that over the past couple of years we have seen an increase in the demand for recruitment support for roles such as prospect research and management, stewardship and donor relations, advancement operations, and donor communications, etc. In 2019 we found that the median total revenue (excluding investment and ancillary income but including everything else) was just $700,000 per full-time position (FTE). In 2025, the same figure was $818,000. Size still matters though, as the numbers demonstrate.

Flexibility. [I Did it My Way!]

At the same time, an evolving trend is more flexibility and options in how we work, where we work, and how work is rewarded. It’s all about giving employees choice wherever possible as they ask more for the ability to customize and adapt to their unique situation, and how it evolves over time. Here’s what we’re seeing:

• 91% of all organizations we surveyed have a hybrid work model, with most of those having 2 or 3 “in office” days per week.
• Health & Wellness Spending Accounts are becoming much more common, which allow employees to focus benefits in the ways that matter most to them.
• Benefits plans with choices of coverage levels are also becoming more common, including some that allow employees to direct any “savings” from reduced coverage plans towards their retirement savings.
• Professional development “accounts” for staff are becoming more common, allowing employees to plan for their own activities without having to ask permission for small expenses.
• More organizations are introducing or increasing “floater” or personal days that staff can use on an as-needed basis to accommodate family or personal obligations, no questions asked.
• Making holiday policies more inclusive by decoupling them from specific religious holidays (such as Easter Monday) and providing time for faith-based or other holidays based on staff preferences.
• Different workweek schedule options, such as the “4×10” (i.e. a week of work time portioned over 4 days); or the fortnight model, or “10 in 9”, which is similar but with 10 days of work time portioned over 9 working days, and the 10th day off.
• Seeking input from staff on benefit practices like the above to ensure that the outcomes are meaningful for the people they are intended to benefit.

From a recruitment perspective, we consistently hear that hybrid and flexible options are highly valued by potential employees and some organizations have responded by hiring staff that do not live within a commutable distance from the office. Organizations that are open to that have benefitted from broader geographic reach for recruitment which has led to stronger and more diverse candidate pools. This has been especially successful for organizations outside of large urban centres or where the pool of fundraising talent may be smaller. However, this is not a scenario that will work well for every role so weighing the pros and cons is important. Regardless of the chosen model, one message we hear consistently from clients is that it is important that the time in office must be purposeful and meaningful…so staff see the value of having made the commute.

Culture. [Let the Light In!]

As we navigate these trends and those in the broader world, a healthy and supportive organizational culture has never been more important. We all know the old saying about “strategy eating culture for breakfast”, and because of that, successful organizations are being just as intentional about building healthy cultures as they are in charting smart strategy. The challenge is that while leaders are key to building positive cultures, they can’t do it alone. Effective talent practices aren’t the only solution either, but they are an important part of the toolkit. And charities are trying out many things to help build or reinforce a positive and appreciative culture, including what we call “Surprise and Delight Perks” like:

• A formal evaluation system for positions that includes pay equity considerations and requirements. This means looking at what the job requires in terms of experience, education, responsibility, and other factors to determine the right pay range in comparison to other roles at your organization and in the marketplace.
• Defined salary ranges for all roles, and always including the range on job postings. Bonus points for clarity around what the typical hiring range is as compared to the full range of potential compensation.
• Fair and transparent performance assessment practices that encourage regular and supportive feedback. A once-a-year review isn’t enough.
• Transparent communication around what the salary progression approach is (i.e. how raises happen), and what type of skills, competency and performance is required for promotion.

If you’re an organizational leader reading this and realizing you don’t have these elements in place, feel free to reach out. We can help.

The graph above clearly shows that hospital and healthcare foundations where there is no incentive program in place have higher average staff tenure than those where all staff have the potential for an incentive. It should be noted that those “all in” foundations tend to have incentives that are aligned around a few team or foundation-wide goals for most staff. In other words, if we succeed in achieving our goals, we all share in the recognition. However, they both have significantly higher tenure than those foundations where some staff have potential incentive pay, while others don’t. This doesn’t mean that this model is necessarily wrong, but it may contribute to a sharper focus on performance by management, or just be more challenging to implement well. It’s also worth noting that incentive plans sometimes have the side effect of ensuring conversations about performance actually happen, and giving another opportunity for recognition of staff effort. This on its own isn’t enough to start an incentive program, but it is a potential reason why some top performers gravitate to positions with this element of compensation. During the hiring process we consistently hear from candidates that base salary remains a top priority, particularly true for less senior roles. Knowing what an individual will make on a monthly basis matters. And for those who come from organizations that don’t have incentive compensation, we observe a lack of understanding of how they work, how they are measured, and how likely they are to achieve them. Ensuring clarity and transparency about how incentives are structured and earned can help those looking to join organizations understands how it impacts total compensation, particularly because each organization is different.

The Takeaway

Organizations and leaders should be thinking about a few key things when it comes to talent recruitment and management:

• • As turnover stabilizes, we can focus on managing for long-term success. Fundamentals like solid performance assessment, mentorship, and professional development are always good investments.
  • At the same time, we need to expect that early to mid-career staff will be looking to progress and creating a flexible and supportive culture for progression is key to long-term retention.
  • Pay attention to demographics: Younger employees are more likely to shift and progress; help them develop and you’re more likely to succeed together over the long term.
  • Where possible, look for benefit plans with flexibility and choice for employees.
  • Consider your current approach to work schedules and perks and see if there is room to offer more flexibility and input? Influence? from staff.
  • Define, articulate and promote your own unique employee value proposition, including on postings and recruitment materials. In other words, decide what matters to your team culture and values, and lean into that when recruiting.
  • Transparency and equity are fundamental principles that support positive culture; but must be balanced with appropriate confidentiality and respect for individual contribution.
  • Embrace nimbleness, agility and risk tolerance.