If you’ve tried hiring for a planned giving role recently, you know the struggle is real.
With qualified candidates in short supply and the competition fierce, filling even one open position can feel nearly impossible. According to DickersonBakker’s 2021 Nonprofit Staffing Study, 85% of organizations reported difficulty finding fundraising talent—and nearly half said it was extremely challenging or nearly impossible to find even one qualified candidate.
So what’s the smarter strategy? Keep the talent you already have. In today’s market, retention is your most powerful recruitment tool. By creating a workplace where your planned giving team feels appreciated, empowered, and excited to stay, you can avoid the disruption of turnover—and build long-term strength for your program.
Here are five ways to help your planned giving staff stay loyal, energized and thriving.
#1 Project Gratitude
Creating a vibe of optimism and thankfulness starts with you. Executive director, department head or planned giving officer, your attitude absolutely has an effect on others around you. Like we tell donors that “every dollar makes a difference,” our choice to be more positive at work makes a difference, too.
The payoff: Studies show optimistic employees are more engaged, resilient and problem-solvers.
To practice positivity:
- Take advantage of “good moments” to say thank you. Use expected occasions, like meetings, and unexpected moments, like an email, to say thank you or show appreciation for a job well done or above the call of duty.
- Deliberately stop complaining. Complaining too often can impact your mood and potentially damage relationships. Instead, reframe negative thoughts.
- Celebrate small successes. “If you’re looking for a mood boost during the day … [recall] something positive a colleague said or a team win,” says Stephen Kohler, CEO and founder of a coaching company for business leaders.
#2 Create a Fail-Safe Environment
I’m not suggesting that repeatedly failing is acceptable in planned giving or any other fundraising or workplace role, especially if the situation is within one’s control to navigate successfully. I do think, however, that it’s OK to fail, in the right way.
Failing successfully, according to author Adam Kahane, involves:
Looking forward, not backward. Intentionally learn from what happened. Kahane shares the “plus/delta” exercise he and his teams do at the end of every “unit” of work—every quarter, project phase or workshop day.
- Plus: “What did I/you/we do well that I/you/we need to keep doing?”
- Delta (the mathematical symbol for change): “What do I/you/we need to do better next time?”
Taking measured risks. Risk-taking has to be prudent. “You can improvise well only if you have practiced a lot,” Kahane says.
Asking for feedback. You shouldn’t rely only on your own perspective about how a project is going. Kahane suggests getting feedback casually and formally, verbally and in writing, and with both specific and open-ended questions.
Being willing to be wrong. Do we learn from feedback? Unfortunately, not nearly as often as we think. Kahane says that it helps to be disciplined about receiving and responding to feedback with these steps.
- Ask for feedback.
- Listen to it, but don’t reply immediately; write it down and refrain from explaining or defending yourself.
- Take time to consider what’s useful, and to determine what, if anything, you will do differently in the future.
- Share what you think you did right or wrong, what you learned, and what you will do next.
#3 Invest in the Best, Your Team
According to the 2025 Philanthropy Pulse from CCF Fundraising, just 8% of fundraisers report that they feel “completely knowledgeable” and 29% feel “mostly knowledgeable” about planned giving, or less than half of all fundraisers. Those who manage planned giving at your nonprofit are a true asset.
To stay at their best, however, they need to be able to grow professionally and explore the fundraising world around them.
Allocate budget solely for professional development opportunities. Be sure your employees know there’s money available to pursue conferences, webinars, luncheons and the like to build skills and confidence and network with other planned giving professionals.
TIP: Bring professional development to them. Use lunch and learns or weekly meetings as an opportunity for guest experts to discuss topics like health and well-being, fun tech tools, mission-impact stories, community happenings and more.
Other strategies:
- Allow employees to gain experience in different roles to broaden their organizational knowledge and leadership skills.
- Provide opportunities to assume new responsibilities and tackle complex projects.
- Promote teamwork and collaboration by creating shared goals and objectives.
- Invest in planned giving training for other fundraising staff. Skilling them up gives you bench strength and them a great career path.
#4 Use “Entry” or “Stay” Interviews in Addition to Exit Interviews
“Entry” and “stay” interviews get ahead of workplace frustrations or potential burnout. Because, really, is it the best time to wait until an employee has one foot out the door before finding out what would keep them there?
An entry interview sets team members up for success.
It isn’t the same as a job interview. You’ve already hired them. The goal here is to discover what they need from their employer to not only stay with an organization but also thrive.
Here are examples of questions to ask:
- What kind of feedback do you need? How often would you like to get feedback?
- How hands-on do you want us to be?
- Where do you see yourself in X years?
- What makes a good manager for you?
A stay interview keeps them coming back.
A “stay” interview isn’t the same as a performance review and shouldn’t be part of one. They’re separate conversations between managers and employees to understand why employees choose to stay with a company and how to improve their experience.
Some questions could include:
- What do you look forward to about work every day?
- What do you dislike about work every day?
- Within the past year, what was a day that caused you anxiety or frustration?
- Within the past year, what was a “good day”?
Learn more about the benefits of conducting these types of interviews.
#5 Make the Most of the Perks You Offer as a Nonprofit
While nonprofits aren’t generally known for offering the highest salaries or “corporate” perks, there are appealing benefits—and that’s what you need to focus on.
Greater flexibility. By allowing employees to adjust their schedules to fit personal commitments as long as they meet their professional responsibilities.
Genuine care. By showing that your organization walks the walk with work-life balance and mental health by providing stress management workshops, exercise classes or mental health days.
Meaningful work. Cliché, I know, but it counts. By sharing stories of impact, you remind employees why they’re working for the good of the mission. Take five minutes during meetings or team gatherings to share these stories or more informally through emails, texts or internal collaboration platforms.
Also, regularly review your nonprofit’s mission and vision statements in new ways with different exercises. For example, team members can:
- Share which mission and vision statements are most meaningful and impactful. Post responses in a visible location for all team members to see.
- Create a vision board to represent what the mission and vision means to them—and what represents success for them.
Some might say focusing on employee morale and professional development takes too much time away from more important mission-driven work. I believe it’s one of the more important things you can do for your nonprofit.