Defending ROI of Major Gift Officers

Defending ROI of Major Gift Officers

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

"I am wondering if you know if there is any 'standard' or data that supports industry ROI for gift officers in their 1st through 5th years? I am in the position of defending the ROI of my gift officers to my Trustee Board, but do not know what the readily acceptable number would be, depending on their years in the position. Thanks for the help." DN

I posted an earlier series of articles on this issue. Click here to go to that series of posts.

However, the old standard is out. We used to say that a MGO should pay for themselves by the end of year 1; 3 X by year 2; and 5 X by the end of year 3. Or, you may get a star that can produce 10 times their salary and benefits.

One of my colleagues had taught her institution that her team could make about $1 million per staff member. While she had a great 2008-09 and raised $75M, their target was $125M. So, in spite of the tough economy she had to lay off 50 people.

Times are different now which makes the old standard benchmarking less valid.

I do have one hard and fast rule – after 1 year the new staff person has got to be covering their salary and benefits. They still may need to flower in the future but they can’t be a drag on the system.

Also, before you defend your staff too quickly, really think deeply about each person’s productivity. How is your overall office doing compared to last year? How is each person doing from a year ago? Who is always out of the office making connections and filing contact reports? Of course you need to measure dollars, but monitor activity.

Don’t fall into the trap of defending everyone if in reality you have 1 star, 2 solid players, and one weak person. You should admit any weaknesses in your staff and share how you are coaching for improvements.

If your major gift officers are working on organizational committees, subtract this time from the 125 prospects they should be shepherding. Or, ask your boss to let the MGOs out of committee work so they can focus on raising money.

Now is also a great time to audit how much the staff is dedicating to special events? Everyone may have to work twice as hard to raise the same money this year.

Finally, is everyone filling out contact reports to document all calls? The team may need to strategize next moves for each prospective donor. You may need to decide if a particularly prospective donor is worth further cultivation. The less experienced the staff person is, the more of this coaching they will need.

I hope something here is helpful.

P.S. Remind everyone that even a 3X return is really good. What other investments can your organization make that results in 67% return – certainly not the stock market.Write blog post content here

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