The following is David Maeir-Epstein's comment on Dr. Steve Donshik's article in e-Jewish Philanthropy which can be read here.
In my experience, Israeli nonprofits of various sizes eventually conclude that hiring an in-house professional to deal with resource development benefits their long term growth.
With this in mind, starting out with an external consulting firm has some definite advantages. For starters, it can help with developing the basic infrastructure needed (materials, elements of website relating to resource development, lists of relevant foundations, identification of potential donors, a work plan recommending which methods of fundraising will be most effective for the organization, etc). The consulting firm can also assist with educating the professional and lay leadership to recognize a high standard of professionalism in a field with which usually they are unfamiliar.
While I do offer assist my clients to find the right in-house professional from the beginning, I have also had numerous clients with whom I began as the external consultant and was able to smoothly transition by helping the organization to hire the right in house professional and providing the necessary initial guidance to make sure that she (thanks Steve for the gender default choice) gets off to a running start in the right direction.
Regarding the method of compensation issue, I’m surprised at Steve’s seemingly objective review of the issue in light of the profession’s very clear stance rejecting percentage based compensation as expressed in the Code of Ethics of both the US and the European professional fundraisers organizations. One of the first items on the agenda of the newly formed Israel Association of Professional Fundraisers’s First Annual Conference, now being planned, will be the adoption of our own Code of Ethics. I assume that it will have some elements that will differ from our US and European colleagues, but not on the issue of percentage based compensation.
David Maeir-Epstein
www.israelgrants.com
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