Quick turnover among chief advancement officers or development leaders is no longer a rare occurrence. Recruitment executives report that half or more of the searches they are conducting result from vacancies caused by vice presidents being asked to resign. And those terminations are not because of fundraising failures. Vice presidential…

In many quarters, the job of presidents increasingly became one of raising endowment money and overseeing campus expansions. The inside joke was that college and university presidents suffered from an Edifice Complex. In the view of many college presidents, the economic crisis of 2008 was a tipping point. In its aftermath, a "new normal" is…

All college and university communications professionals work hard to promote their institutions' strengths and uniqueness. They tout high-caliber faculty, programs, and facilities and point to the achievements of their graduates as examples of their success. But those who work for institutions that are members of a higher education consortium also…

Alumni relations and stewardship officers have the makings of a strong partnership. Alumni relations and stewardship can be a natural fit--a perfect match even--according to Mary Jo Chiara of St. Joseph's College (SJC) in New York. Both strive to cultivate long-term relationships with constituents and build increasing levels of engagement and…

Surveys expose differences in how chief development officers and institutional leaders view their fundraising roles. A recent survey of community college presidents and chief development officers shows, for example, that while 82 percent of presidents say they are comfortable asking for gifts, just 55 percent of fundraisers say the same of…

Most chief development officers (CDOs) genuinely like--and fully respect--their institution's leadership. Considered by many the most important professional relationship at an educational institution, a strong CEO-CDO connection takes insight, planning, and persistence on the part of the development officer. Theirs is a delicate relationship…