😶‍🌫️This Job Description Didn’t Make Me Scream Into a Pillow🫣

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Veteran readers of my Breakthru Guides may remember last year’s SHUN Award - a slightly snarky honor bestowed upon a job posting that went above and beyond in its confusion. You can check it out here.

This year, however, I’m handing out a very different kind of award - one I don’t get to give very often. After careful consideration, I’m pleased to award Wells Mountain Initiative with the REAL Award - Reasonable Expectations And Leadership. Some of you may also recognize it as the SANE Award (Sagely Avoiding Needless Excesses). Either way, it’s a rare moment when a nonprofit job posting clearly respects fundraising as a profession. You can see their role description here.

It does seem that yearly, around this time - late winter, early spring - the job postings for fundraisers start raining down like a seasonal migration. Executive Directors, Boards, and well-meaning HR departments emerge from their budget meetings to decide this is the year they finally hire (or re-hire) that magical Development Director who will fix everything.

A few of these postings are great. Most are… frustrating, while others are so wildly out of touch with reality that they seem to have been written by someone who has never met an actual fundraiser.

Let’s break down the Wells Mountain posting - the mostly Good, a little Bad, and potentially Ugly.

The Good🎉

Let’s start with what this job posting gets right, because honestly, it’s a breath of fresh air.

✅ Clear Compensation
Right at the top, they list the salary range ($90K-$100K). No vague ‘competitive salary’ nonsense. No forcing candidates through three rounds of interviews only to reveal the salary is ‘in line with industry standards’ (read: lower than the actual standard). Just clear, upfront numbers. Thank you.

✅ Realistic Scope (Mostly)
The job actually sounds like a Development Director position. They’re not asking one person to manage grants, run communications, plan events, handle donor stewardship, and also maybe do a little program management on the side. This is actually a dedicated fundraising role.

✅ Mission and Organizational Health
Wells Mountain Initiative has a clearly articulated mission, a global reach, and a track record of impact. Job descriptions should make a candidate want to be part of something, and this one does a great job of that.

✅ Benefits Exist!
Health insurance reimbursement, PTO, a 403(b) retirement plan - these are things some nonprofits pretend don’t exist, so this is a win. Could the benefits be better? Sure. But it’s a lot better than postings that say, “We can’t pay much, but we promise a rewarding experience.” (Translation: We don’t respect you as a professional.)

The Bad🤔

Here are a few eyebrow-raisers.

⚠️ The Word “Scalable” Is Doing a Lot of Work Here
The Development Director is tasked with implementing a scalable fundraising strategy. But… scalable from what? Does that mean they already have a strong foundation and are ready to grow? Or does it mean we currently have no strategy, and we’d like you to build one from scratch immediately?

⚠️ Vague Travel Expectations
"Some travel to meet with donors, including international travel..." Okay, but how much? How scattered is the current donor base? Will you have a sufficient budget to be in front of people regularly?

⚠️ Heavy on Grant Writing
The posting mentions “grant writing” multiple times. That’s a little worrisome because folks skilled in major gift fundraising are not known for their grant writing skills (and vice versa). It could also mean we don’t have enough major gift relationships yet, so you’ll be starting from scratch. A red flag for those expecting to inherit a well-developed portfolio.

The Ugly😬

🚨 The Reporting Structure is a Bit… Thin?
This role "reports to the Executive Director" and is "on the leadership team," but it doesn't mention who else is on that team. Are you the only development person? Is there a board member who thinks they’re your boss? These are things worth clarifying before jumping in.
(I once accepted a job where, within weeks, I discovered I was reporting to the chairperson of the board. Yes, really.)

🚨 “Patient and Persistent” is Nonprofit Code for…
The job description says they need someone who is "patient and persistent." This can translate to: You will hear ‘We’ve always done it this way’ a lot. The reverse should be more true - the leadership of the organization needs to be patient and persistent with the process of building a sound major gift strategy.

🚨 Donor Database Mentioned… But Lightly
"Familiarity with donor databases" is listed, but there’s no mention of which CRM they use or how much of their donor history is actually documented. Hopefully, they mean familiarity with tracking cultivation activities in a donor relationship management system.

Final Verdict?

Overall, this is one of the better Development Director job postings I’ve seen. If I were advising a candidate, I’d say it’s worth considering - however, not without asking some key questions:

❓ How established is the donor pipeline?
❓ How much of this is building vs. maintaining?
❓ What’s the org culture like when it comes to fundraising?
❓ Who else is doing (or willing to do) development work? (If the answer is “just you,” you need to know that going in.)

There’s nothing as demoralizing as taking a job only to realize six months in that the expectations are wildly misaligned with reality. So if you’re in the market for a new role, don’t be afraid to interview them just as much as they’re interviewing you.

And if you’re an organization hiring a fundraiser right now, take this as a friendly challenge: Make sure your job description isn’t just aspirational - make it REAL (and maybe even SANE). Because great fundraisers? They do have options.

What’s your story?  I’d love to hear about it. Have you seen any job postings lately that made you smile (or scream into a pillow)?

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If you haven't taken advantage of some of the resources I've created to help major gift fundraisers, take a look now!  Initial calls with me are free and "no strings attached".  Sometimes folks feel like they need to wait and not 'bother' me until they have a pressing issue.  No need for that...just make the call. 🕺

‍Here's where you can access a lot of content for free:

‍* Follow me on LinkedIn - You'll get short pro-tips and reflections on major gift fundraising every day between 5-7am pacific.

* Breakthru Newsletter - As you've seen here, these are longer weekly posts (audio and written) sent directly to your email.

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* Breakthru Podcast - Interviews with high net worth givers about how we as fundraisers can get better at inviting them to the party.  And audio readings of Breakthru Blog posts.

‍Before getting to the PAID stuff: My opinion is that no small ministry with a tight budget should be spending more than $3-5k (total) for major gift coaching/consulting.  Most of you will be good-to-go spending far less than that.  This was a major issue for me when I was a frontline fundraiser - major gift consultants were an expensive 'black-box-of-confusion' for me.  That stops now.

‍Here's the PAID stuff:

‍* Online Catalyst Course - This is a full brain dump of my 28+ years of experience - good, bad, ugly.  It's built around the fundamentals, the sacredness, and the fun, of major gift fundraising.  It's infused with Henri Nouwen reflections.  Many people can take this course and they will be 'cooking-with-gas' and not need any additional coaching from me on the core systems.  I'm grateful that this course has gotten *great* reviews.

* Live coaching with me - I refer to this as "brain rental".  The ROI on live coaching, as you might imagine, is extraordinary.

Finally, be sure to connect with my colleague Ivana Salloum.  She's super awesome and can help with scheduling and access to resources, etc.

I look forward to hearing about your good work!

Blessings,