When experienced fundraisers leave, organisations lose more than another name on the staff register.
A new fundraiser joins the team. They receive training, learn the pitch, practise approaching strangers and begin the difficult process of building confidence. At first, the rejections are overwhelming. But gradually, something changes.
They learn to read people. Their conversations improve. They begin understanding the cause beyond the script. They discover how to turn a stranger’s curiosity into genuine interest.
And just when they are becoming experienced, they leave.
Another fundraiser is recruited. The process begins again.
In face-to-face fundraising, staff turnover can become so familiar that organisations begin treating it as an unavoidable part of the industry. But perhaps we should be asking a different question.
What is the real cost of continually replacing people we have already invested in developing?
The Cost That Doesn’t Appear on the Recruitment Budget
When a fundraiser leaves, the obvious expenses are recruitment, induction and training. But those are only the visible costs.
There is also the time a team leader spends teaching someone new instead of developing the existing team. There are missed opportunities while a new recruit learns to approach donors confidently. And there is the experience that disappears when someone who understands the organisation, the public and the realities of fundraising walks away.
An experienced fundraiser doesn’t simply know the pitch. They know when to approach, when to listen, when to adjust and when to let someone walk away. Those skills take time to develop.
When experienced fundraisers leave, organisations lose knowledge that cannot always be replaced through a few days of training.
Why Are Fundraisers Leaving?
Face-to-face fundraising is demanding work. Long hours on your feet, repeated rejection, performance pressure and unpredictable earnings in commission-based environments can take their toll.
For some, fundraising is a temporary job. Others discover that the profession isn’t suited to them. That is understandable.
But when experienced and capable fundraisers repeatedly leave, organisations should be curious about why. Are people leaving because they have found better opportunities? Are they struggling with income stability? Do they feel supported? Is there a realistic path for career growth? Or have they reached a point where the emotional and financial demands no longer feel sustainable?
Not every resignation points to an organisational failure. But repeated departures may be telling an organisation something that its performance reports cannot.
The Team That Is Always Starting Again
Imagine a fundraising team that constantly recruits new people. The team leader spends weeks building confidence, correcting approaches and helping recruits understand the work. Eventually, the team begins performing consistently.
Then several experienced members leave.
The leader returns to induction, basic coaching and rebuilding confidence. Instead of moving the team forward, much of the effort goes into restoring what has already been lost.
This cycle can affect morale too. Experienced fundraisers may become tired of constantly supporting new colleagues. New recruits may struggle to find stability in a team where people keep disappearing.
And the organisation may find itself celebrating recruitment numbers without asking whether those recruits are staying long enough to become effective.
A growing recruitment pipeline is not necessarily the same thing as a growing, sustainable fundraising team.
Retention Is Also a Fundraising Strategy
Fundraising organisations understandably focus on donor acquisition and retention. How many new donors joined? How many remain active? What does it cost to acquire a donor? How can donor relationships be strengthened?
These are important questions. But perhaps we should apply similar curiosity to the people responsible for acquiring those donors.
How long do fundraisers stay? Why do experienced people leave? What happens to team performance when they do? How much leadership time is spent repeatedly training replacements? And what would change if more capable fundraisers stayed long enough to deepen their expertise?
Retaining every employee indefinitely is neither realistic nor necessary. But retaining skilled, committed people can support continuity, stronger teams and more consistent donor engagement.
In that sense, staff retention is not only a human resources concern.
It is part of the sustainability of the fundraising operation itself.
Beyond the Pitch
Face-to-face fundraising depends on human connection. We recognise that connection when we talk about donors. Perhaps we should recognise it just as seriously when we talk about fundraisers.
People need training, but they also need reasons to stay. They need expectations, but they also need support. They need performance standards, but they should also be able to see a future in the profession.
An organisation can continue recruiting fundraisers indefinitely and still struggle to build a strong team if experienced people keep leaving.
The question is not simply how quickly a vacancy can be filled. It is whether the organisation is creating an environment in which good fundraisers can develop, contribute and remain.
Recruitment brings people into fundraising. Retention gives their experience time to become an organisational strength.
And perhaps the hidden cost of high fundraiser turnover is not only what organisations spend replacing people.
It is the experience, stronger teams and future leaders that organisations lose the opportunity to develop when good fundraisers keep leaving.
Continue the Conversation
Do fundraising organisations invest enough in retaining experienced fundraisers, or has constant recruitment become an accepted part of the industry?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Explore Beyond the Pitch
Face-to-face fundraising is about more than approaching donors and meeting targets. It is also about developing people, understanding the realities of the profession and building stronger fundraising teams.
Beyond the Pitch: The Art of Face-to-Face Fundraising explores the human side of fundraising, from donor engagement to the challenges of working in the field.
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Email: lelon@reflectionsinmotion.blog
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