(Spoiler: It’s more than salary)
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the average total cost to employ a full-time development staffer is $130,000, including salary and benefits.
But here’s what that number doesn’t include:
- Time lost to onboarding
- Loss of institutional memory and donor history
- Brand inconsistency from sudden communication gaps
- Stress is placed on the remaining staff
- Fractured community trust when relationships vanish overnight
The average tenure for a Development Director is just 14 to 18 months. And every time one leaves, it can cost your organization 6 to 9 months of their salary just to recover.
That means a $130k hire may cost you $65,000 to $100,000 in lost momentum — every time the role turns over.
It’s Not Just a Hiring Problem. It’s a Structure Problem.
Burnout isn’t about weak people — it’s about fragile systems.
You can’t expect one person to be:
- A grant writer
- A donor strategist
- A CRM manager
- A social media coordinator
- A major gifts closer
- A graphic designer
- An event planner
- A storyteller
- A steward
That’s not a job. That’s a miracle. And miracles don’t scale.
What If You Didn’t Lose Your Fundraising Brain Every 14 Months?
At PNWF, we design fractional fundraising teams that:
✔ Provide specialized skills for each function
✔ Deliver continuity even during transition
✔ Eliminate single points of failure
✔ Reduce burnout for everyone — staff and leadership alike
✔ Actually costs less than one overworked full-time hire
Want to explore your org’s options?
Or book time with Eddie to talk scope, staffing, and sustainability.