profile

Chief Fundraiser Weekly

How to keep your best fundraiser

Published 24 days ago • 2 min read

Creating Advancement Paths for Top Performers

Issue #013

This week's strategic brief (3-minute read)

Your best fundraiser just asked about “next steps.”

The problem? In most nonprofits, the only ladder leads to management. But last week’s issue showed why that’s often a mistake.

I learned this the hard way. I once promoted a million-dollar fundraiser into a director role. Six months later, they were frustrated, the team was disengaged, and revenue dipped. They didn’t want to manage. They wanted to fundraise at a higher level.

The Advancement Trap

Most organizations have one path: officer → director → VP. That forces great fundraisers into management jobs they don’t want, and you end up losing revenue and talent.

The fix? Create a second ladder.

The Expert Track Alternative

Smart organizations design two parallel paths:

  1. Management Track: Officer → Director → VP (leads people)
  2. Expert Track: Officer → Senior Officer → Principal → Executive Officer (leads strategy and revenue)

To make the Expert Track work, define three clear levels:

Level 1: Specialist

  • Manages a $500K–$1.5M portfolio
  • Follows established processes reliably

Level 2: Expert

  • Exceeds goals consistently ($1.5M–$3M)
  • Adapts strategies for complex situations

Level 3: Strategic Advisor

  • Shapes portfolio strategy ($3M+ annually)
  • Mentors peers informally and influences big-picture growth

I created a free Expert Track Development Plan Template to make this easy. It includes growth criteria, performance metrics, and advancement planning tools.

Real Example

One of our senior fundraisers consistently delivered seven-figure revenue. Instead of pushing her into management, we expanded her portfolio to transformational donors, gave her recognition equal to directors, and tied compensation growth to a variety of performance metrics.

Result: She stayed, donors stayed, and revenue grew.

Spotting the Right Path

When top performers ask about advancement, listen for signals:

Expert Track:

  • “I love building donor relationships.”
  • “I want bigger prospects.”
  • “I’d like more influence on strategy.”

Management Track:

  • “I want to build a team.”
  • “I’d like budget responsibility.”
  • “I want to hire and coach people.”

The difference isn’t subtle — but you need the right questions to surface it.

The Conversation Framework

Ask:

  • “What energizes you most about your work?”
  • “What would make this role feel like growth?”
  • “How do you want to influence our mission?”

Avoid:

  • “Do you want to supervise?”
  • “Do you want more responsibility?”

The first set unlocks energy. The second boxes them into management.

Implementation Roadmap

Month 1: Design Expert Track levels and pay bands

Month 2: Identify who fits Expert vs. Management

Month 3: Hold advancement conversations

Month 4: Make your first Expert Track promotion

The Bottom Line

Your best individual contributors don’t need management titles to grow. They need recognition, challenge, and compensation that reflects their value.

Build advancement paths that let experts keep being experts. Retention will rise, and so will revenue.

Scale Check

Do your top three fundraisers know what advancement looks like beyond management? If not, you’re one recruiter call away from losing them.

Coming Next Week

Next Sunday: “From Database Chaos to Strategic Intelligence”

A messy CRM stalls growth. I’ll share the 3-step hierarchy that turns contacts into real intelligence. To prepare for the issue, please take this quick poll.

Your Turn

This week, sketch your two-track advancement ladder using the Quick-Start Guide. Then, if you’re ready to go deeper, download the full Expert Track Development Plan Template and map out the next step for one of your top fundraisers. Let me know how it goes.

Until next week,
Christine

P.S. The best chief fundraisers I know don’t just grow revenue. They grow careers. An Expert Track proves you understand that scaling talent is as strategic as scaling dollars.

I’m Christine Bork, Chief Development Officer at the American Academy of Pediatrics. I write Chief Fundraiser Weekly to help other fundraising leaders escape the chaos of daily tasks and build high-performing, strategy-first operations.

If you found this helpful, forward it to a peer—it might be the boost they need.

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

Chief Fundraiser Weekly

by Christine Bork

Most senior fundraisers spend 70% of their week in tactical work instead of leading growth. I’m a practicing Chief Development Officer scaling a $27M shop, and I share the systems that actually work. Every Sunday, you’ll get a 5-minute executive brief with one system, real proof, and one action you can use right away.

Read more from Chief Fundraiser Weekly
A large pile of papers.

From Crisis to System: Turning Problems into Permanent Capacity Issue #016 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hello Reader, Every chief fundraiser hits this moment: you set a budget in January, and by September the world has changed. Federal policy shifts. Vaccine confidence challenges. Donor priorities reshuffled. Corporate partners distracted. Suddenly, the assumptions that built your plan no longer hold—and neither does your strategy. The instinct? Panic, recalc, and scramble. The...

3 days ago • 2 min read
A stack of papers on a table.

The Board Report That Cuts Through the Noise Issue #015 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hello Reader, Your brilliant strategy might be sitting unread on page 47 of a 75-page board book. You’ll get 12 minutes of presentation time once a year, maybe twice. The rest of the time, your written words must do the heavy lifting. That reality demands a completely different approach than the chief fundraisers who present monthly. I learned this when a board member told me: “I read your...

10 days ago • 3 min read
A man sitting on the floor with a file box.

From Database Chaos to Strategic Intelligence Issue #014 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hi Reader, Most chief fundraisers organize their database wrong. They choose volume over value. That mistake kills your ability to focus on the relationships that actually drive revenue growth. I saw it in our own pipeline review: over 600,000 contacts in our CRM. But less than 7,000 deserved attention. Once we reorganized around decision-making instead of data collection, our team knew...

17 days ago • 2 min read