7 Must-Have Members of Your Nonprofit’s Fundraising Team
With a dedicated nonprofit fundraising team, you’ll execute more effective strategies, plan impactful events, and attain more funding for your mission. The key to building a winning team is understanding the team members you should select and the vital responsibilities they’ll handle. That’s where this guide comes in—we’ll discuss the must-have members of your nonprofit’s fundraising team.
As you read through this article, remember that though ideally, these roles will be filled by board or staff members, they can also be filled with loyal volunteers. Additionally, depending on your nonprofit’s size and needs, some of these roles may have overlapping responsibilities. In that case, it may make sense for one person to handle multiple roles.
1. Fundraising Manager
Your nonprofit’s fundraising manager or director will oversee all fundraising activities, develop high-level strategies, and ensure that fundraising efforts align with organizational goals. Their key responsibilities include:
- Creating fundraising plans and strategies
- Setting fundraising goals
- Establishing the budget for fundraising activities
- Working with other departments to ensure a smooth fundraising process
This role is crucial for your organization’s nonprofit success, so choose the right individual to fill it. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of the nuances of fundraising, a strategic mindset, and plenty of experience in the industry.
Your nonprofit’s board members are a great first place to look for fundraising managers, as they are passionate about your mission, have plenty of experience in the industry, and likely have the know-how to succeed.
2. Major Gifts Officer
A major gifts officer manages all activities related to major gifts, generally focusing on major gift solicitation and stewarding major donor relationships. Their responsibilities include:
- Identifying major donor prospects
- Reaching out to new prospects and cultivating relationships with them
- Soliciting major gifts from donors
- Establishing major donor appreciation strategies
- Building personalized engagement strategies for long-term major donor relationships
Major gifts can make up a significant portion of a nonprofit’s revenue, so having a major gifts officer on your nonprofit’s fundraising team will maximize the revenue you raise. Individuals who excel in this role have great communication skills and can leverage your nonprofit’s network to find new donors.
3. Grants Specialist
Fundraising doesn’t just consist of revenue from donors—grants are another valuable revenue stream for nonprofits. A grants specialist will handle all aspects of grant fundraising, focusing on submitting proposals to secure grant money from foundations, government agencies, corporations, and more.
According to Jitasa, grant management is an ongoing process that begins before funding is even secured. A grant specialist’s responsibilities will mirror that cycle, as they’ll need to:
- Identify key grant opportunities to apply for funding
- Write effective grant proposals
- Track the grant’s progress after funds have been awarded
- Record grant funding for internal accounting purposes
- Report your impact back to the grantmaker
Individuals in this role will work closely with your finance department to ensure that grant funds are properly allocated and managed. They’ll also need strong writing and communication skills to create proposals and interact with grantmakers.
4. Sponsorships Officer
Like major donors, sponsors are a vital audience with whom your organization must build relationships to secure the funding or support it needs. A sponsorships officer will handle all tasks related to soliciting sponsorships, including:
- Identifying valuable sponsorship opportunities
- Developing personalized sponsorship packages
- Sending partnership proposals to individuals, businesses, and organizations
- Negotiating sponsorship agreements
- Ensuring the sponsorship agreement is executed
- Stewarding relationships with previous sponsors
- Creating and marketing your sponsorship program
Sponsorship officers generally need to possess the same qualities as major gifts officers to be successful. They may also need sales and marketing knowledge to help them craft compelling sponsorship packages that offer businesses the visibility and brand recognition they want.
5. Donor Relations Coordinator
A donor relations coordinator will handle relationship-building with donors of all levels, not just major donors. As it’s estimated that the cost of acquiring a new donor is five times that of retaining a current donor, it’s essential to have a dedicated staff member planning how to engage donors and keep them interested in your nonprofit’s mission and activities. Their key responsibilities include:
- Developing donor appreciation strategies that fit your audience
- Creating marketing materials that encourage long-term donor engagement
- Tracking donor engagement metrics and identifying improvement areas
They may also brainstorm additional ways for donors to contribute to your mission. For example, they may take advice from Funds2Orgs and implement a monthly giving program that offers exclusive benefits for recurring donors.
6. Events Coordinator
Your events coordinator will handle all responsibilities related to fundraising events, regardless of whether they are in-person, hybrid, or virtual. Some common tasks they may handle include:
- Budgeting for and planning fundraising events
- Outlining marketing campaigns for upcoming events
- Coordinating with vendors, volunteers, and sponsors
- Facilitating event-day activities and troubleshooting any issues on-site
- Evaluating the event’s success, including gathering feedback from attendees for future improvements
The right events coordinator will know how to take a traditional fundraising event like a walkathon and breathe new life into it, making it an energizing experience that attendees are excited to attend. They’ll also handle any event-specific tasks—for example, they’ll oversee item procurement for auctions and book a golf course or venue for a golf tournament.
When filling this role, look for someone with a wealth of event planning experience. Ideally, the individual will be familiar with fundraising events, but many skills required to run other types of events are transferable.
7. Digital Fundraising Specialist
Digital fundraising can become your most profitable fundraising stream as long as you have a digital fundraising specialist on your team. These individuals have the skills, knowledge, and experience to elevate all your digital fundraising experiences, resulting in more donations for your mission.
A digital fundraising specialist will handle the following tasks:
- Optimizing your online donation page
- Managing online donation platforms and tools
- Creating digital fundraising campaigns, such as an online peer-to-peer campaign
- Tracking key metrics and statistics related to online giving
- Implementing new digital fundraising trends for your nonprofit
This role overlaps with other roles. For example, if you’ve decided to host a virtual fundraising event, your digital fundraising specialist and event coordinator may work together to bring the event to life. An ideal digital fundraising specialist will have plenty of digital marketing experience, familiarity with online giving tools, and knowledge of digital fundraising trends and best practices.
Even if your nonprofit can’t hire dedicated staff members to fulfill each of these roles, ensure you have someone available to handle these tasks. You can split these responsibilities amongst a few individuals, including non-staff members such as board members and volunteers. As your nonprofit grows, prioritize fleshing out your nonprofit’s fundraising team. Doing so will boost revenue for your mission, securing a sustainable, impactful future.
