Set advancement priorities before a search

Your goal is to get development, admissions, and the marketing & communications functions operating together in a coordinated way. You are also reinvesting in outside talent responsible for leading that effort. How can you create the conditions for someone new to be successful when the Director of Advancement role is new to your organization?

Getting your team aligned - the board, the leader, and the staff - before someone new joins your independent school to lead a reconfigured Advancement effort is faster, less risky, and more effective than waiting until after they arrive. What some of our clients have learned is below.

• Make the board's role clear in supporting advancement

  Ensure roles and responsibilities are articulated for each role: board, head, and staff. Make sure each knows what the others are doing. Who will manage volunteers? Who is responsible for board solicitation?

  Set the board fundraising priorities. Is fundraising on every board meeting agenda, in the budget, and on the calendar to discuss regularly? Only having 2 out of 3 is insufficient.

  Set clear expectations for the board: 100% board participation in giving, and their top fundraising priority. Host events. Build relationships with other volunteers.

  The purpose of the development committee is not to identify pain points, choose the approach to events, or prioritize for the staff. The purpose is to support cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship according to the mutually agreed targets.

  Establish who will hold each other accountable for their commitments. All are answerable to the question: 'What approach will both elevate the school beyond our current level of achievement, and endure decades after we are gone?'

• Working together, define the advancement leader role

  Can someone new build effective relationships to command the attention and time of the Head and director-level people on a weekly basis to break down silos and ensure everyone has a clear sense of direction?

  Ensuring the team is applying fundraising best practices is key; prior experience implementing those across the triad (admissions, fundraising, and marketing) will afford someone the credibility required to shift organizational behavior.

  Start with a self-assessment, evaluate each function: development operations, marketing & communications, admissions, and development. Articulate for someone new where the gaps are and outline the supports in place, including training and professional development, to effect the required change.

• Learn throughout the search process

  Identify how much time the Head needs to allocate to fundraising; both to execute and also to learn (given that they likely didn't show up to schools for that part of the job).

  Identify the investments in team, technology, coaching, and consulting required to support the team and someone new. Is there an interim director in place?

  Look at the allocation of time and direct time away from less productive activities (perhaps some types of events, some types of outreach).

  Generate data on history of giving. Set expectations for performance over time, and provide appropriate transparency for finalist candidates on the cadence of activity, the goals, and probe their mindset on how to meet the challenges.

  Listen to the perspective of candidates. In our experience, those with expertise know their value and will have high quality options for their career, including staying where they are.

Whether the title is Chief Advancement Officer, Director of Development, Director of External Relations, or Vice President of Institutional Advancement (please see our recently completed searches here), the success of someone new in this leadership role depends in large part on the preparations you make and expectations in place before they arrive to start their work.