#75 | What does a healthy relationship between fundraiser and CEO really look like?

It was certainly a pleasure to connect with Sarah Jennings who has enjoyed a twenty year fundraising career and is now completing doctoral research that is contemplating the dynamics of what makes for a healthy relationship between the chief development officer and an organization’s senior leader. She also wants to know how colleagues, other leaders, and the organizational culture contribute to this relationship.

Sarah’s research is taking a closer look at data gathered from a number of sources including The UnderDeveloped Study. Many of us will recall that this study found professional turnover and lengthy vacancies in development director to be rooted in deeper issues that contributed to instability in the development director role. Sarah describes her research as bridging a divide in perceptions and improving the organizational culture of philanthropy. Sarah shares my opinion that fundraising is navigating its way through its messy adolescence while the sector in general is becoming more professionalized. Sarah and I agree that it’s certainly an interesting time to be asking some important questions about our shared profession.

If you’d like to download my four frameworks, go to www.lewisfundraising.com/frameworks