By Eddie Allen, Founder of Pacific Northwest Fundraising
Let’s just say it: the traditional Development Director model is broken.
The average tenure of a Development Director is under 16 months. The cost of that turnover—factoring in salary, benefits, recruitment, onboarding, and lost momentum—often exceeds $130,000 per failed hire. Yet, nonprofit boards and executive leaders keep chasing the same outdated dream: a single, full-time fundraising unicorn who can do it all.
They can’t.
The Fantasy vs. Reality
Fantasy: One person will master major gifts, annual giving, grants, events, stewardship, data, and communications — all while building authentic relationships with donors and never burning out.
Reality: No one person can sustainably lead every aspect of development, especially not in under-resourced organizations with weak infrastructure and unrealistic expectations.
The result? High turnover, donor fatigue, lost institutional knowledge, and a blame culture.
So Why Does This Model Persist?
- Habit: It’s how it’s always been done.
- Optics: Boards think a full-time Development Director looks more “legit.”
- Control: Leadership prefers the illusion of ownership over collaborative innovation.
But here’s the kicker — doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
There’s a Better Way At Pacific Northwest Fundraising (PNWF), we’ve built a fractional development model that actually works.
- You get a team, not just a person. You get expertise across platforms — from CRM and prospect research to campaign strategy and donor stewardship.
- You get consistency and accountability without risking losing a sole staffer and starting from scratch.
- And you save money — often tens of thousands of dollars — while raising more.
Case in Point
Organizations that’ve partnered with PNWF have:
- Launched recurring giving programs that generated ROI in under 90 days
- Cleaned and activated neglected donor databases
- Reengaged lapsed donors through smart segmentation and messaging
- Built major gift pipelines based on real prospect data, not guesswork
All without adding a single full-time employee.
The Bottom Line
If you’re tired of rinse-and-repeat hiring cycles… If you’ve watched good fundraisers burn out under impossible expectations… If your fundraising strategy feels reactive instead of intentional…
It’s time to evolve.
Fractional development is not a compromise. It’s a smarter, modern approach to fundraising capacity.
Let’s stop setting talented people up to fail. Let’s stop wasting money chasing unicorns. Let’s build something that actually works.
Visit www.pacificnorthwestfundraising.us to learn how PNWF can support your mission.