Why Hiring a Fundraiser to Fix Your Deficit Is a Bad Investment

Before you post that job listing, ask yourself: Is your organization in a position to grow, or are you asking someone to bail water from a sinking ship?

Nonprofit leaders, let’s be honest: Hiring a fundraiser isn’t a quick fix for your budget crisis.

Bringing on a development professional at $70k+ per year to raise you out of a deficit isn’t a growth strategy; it’s a high-stakes gamble. And far too often, it ends the same way: the fundraiser burns out, the organization makes no real progress, and you lose time, trust, and money you didn’t have to begin with.

If your organization is facing a financial crisis, the first step isn’t a flashy job posting. It’s a reckoning.

Evaluate your programming. Assess your staffing. Get brutally honest about where you can scale back. Then and only then, bring in a fundraising professional as a strategic partner, not a Hail Mary pass.

Because here’s the truth: an experienced fundraiser can read a 990. But they can’t always detect red flags if your filings are late, if your board isn’t aligned, or if your expectations aren’t grounded in reality.

Fundraisers aren’t miracle workers. We’re relationship builders, storytellers, data analysts, and long-game players. We thrive in organizations that value strategy, clarity, and honesty.

So if you’re ready to hire a fundraiser, amazing. Just make sure you’re not handing them a leaky bucket and calling it an opportunity.

At Covvn, we work with values-based organizations ready to fundraise with soul, not desperation. If that’s you, let’s talk.