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If you’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 10 minutes, you know just how incredibly difficult it is to find and keep great people. The staffing challenges in our sector aren’t new, but it seems like the challenges have become more pronounced over the last few years. At least that’s what I keep hearing from clients and friends in our sector. 

Recently, my friends at Dickerson Bakker & Associates commissioned a new study on this topic, HELP WANTED: A National Study of Staffing Challenges in Nonprofit Fundraising. We sat down with Derric Bakker, President/CEO to discuss the findings, which I think you’ll find fascinating and helpful in your work (and you just might take comfort in having some hard data that validates what you’ve been feeling too!). 

Here are some of the key learnings from this new study:

1. Our sector is indeed facing a severe shortage of qualified fundraisers in the marketplace (this most significantly impacts major gift fundraisers)

2. The idea of the 18-month turnover cycle is largely a myt