Rogare report explores why fundraisers change jobs and how to retain them
Howard Lake | 28 August 2025 | News
Recruiting good fundraisers is hard enough, but keeping them in post is just as hard. How can charities retain fundraisers? Fundraising consultant Hannah Kowszun explored the issues and has published her findings in a report from fundraising think tank Rogare.
Rogare’s latest report “It’s about more than just ‘doing good’: Why do fundraisers change jobs, and what will motivate them to stay?” is based on the research that Kowszun undertook for her Master’s degree in organisational psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. The author is a member of Rogare’s Critical Fundraising Network.
Her report features valuable insight into what motivates fundraisers in their work, and also reveals that some assumptions by charity human resources staff and leaders are simply wrong.
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Job satisfaction
Kowszun’s research confirmed that job satisfaction is correlated with a fundraiser’s intention to leave. She also found that job satisfaction among fundraisers is generally high. In contrast, those who were unhappy in their roles were very unhappy.
This of course wasn’t unexpected, so Kowszun explored this in greater depth, asking three further questions.
- Does the pro-social motivation of fundraisers affect their job satisfaction and therefore their intention to leave?
- Does contact with beneficiaries/service users have an effect on job satisfaction and turnover intention?
- In what way do the characteristics of a fundraiser’s day-to-day job affect their satisfaction and turnover intention?
The first two of these had no effect on a fundraiser’s intention to change jobs.
Explaining the findings, Kowszun said:
“The lack of a link between being pro-socially-minded and deciding to stay in a job is on the face of it surprising: why would people leave jobs and causes they care about? Pro-sociality is a major reason why people become fundraisers in the first place. However, once in the job, it’s other factors that contribute to their feelings of job satisfaction.”
By considering fundraisers’ roles using a tool called the Job Characteristics Model, Kowszun concludes there are two key factors that contribute to fundraisers’ intention to stay in their jobs (and the absence of which cause them to want to leave):
Autonomy – the degree of freedom and independence given to them to perform their roles, which for fundraisers ought to include having a say in setting their targets.
Skill variety – how much the role requires the use of a number of different skills and talents. As one of Kowszun’s research participants says, she left her job simply because she got bored.
Altruism alone won’t keep a fundraiser
Altruism and pro-social motivation do play a role in attracting fundraisers to work for a particular charity. But they are not a reason for them to stay in a role. Even engaging with the charity’s work more deeply, such as meeting more donors or experiencing first-hand a project and its services users or beneficiaries, are not likely to change a fundraiser’s mind if they are considering moving on.
So relying on fundraisers’ inherent desire to do good is not a realistic retention policy.
Fundraisers want more ownership of their roles
Exploring the research questions returned by fundraisers Kowszan encountered a strong desire for greater professional autonomy.
- Fundraisers want ownership of their tasks and targets
- They want a say in setting their own targets
- Fundraisers don’t enjoy repetitive, routine tasks
- They value skills-based continuing professional development
In other words they want the professional autonomy to carry out their tasks.
Kowszun concludes:
“While the role of fundraiser is unique in the nonprofit and commercial sectors, fundraisers are nonetheless just like members of every other profession in that they want autonomy over, and ownership of, the work they do, and to exercise a full range of skills in carrying out this work.
“When it comes to tackling the retention crisis in fundraising, this is what we need to consider. Yes, fundraisers will always deserve remuneration commensurate with their level of knowledge, expertise and competence. But give fundraisers more control and invest in their skills, and they are more likely to carry on delivering for their chosen charity, rather than go searching for better.”
What can charities do?
Kowszun recommends three processes that could help retain fundraisers:
Dual promotion tracks – under which promotion is decoupled from the requirement to be a manager, meaning some people are able to advance only in their competency track if people management is not their strongest suit. In particular Kowzsun is suggesting it for the charity sector as a way of providing promotion opportunities without the additional cost and rationale around management i.e. not having to wait until there’s the budget to hire more people before you can be promoted.
Continuing professional development – that is designed to give fundraisers mastery over their craft rather than be merely competent at it.
Retention interviews – why wait until some leaves to ask them about their reasons for going? Conduct informal interviews to find out if they are happy in their jobs and if not, what can be done about it.
Stuart Chell – CEO of Rogare Associate Member Chell Perkins, who wrote the report’s foreword – commented:
“Hannah Kowszun’s research illustrates clearly that while pro-social motivation might draw a fundraiser to your charity, it is not enough to retain them. Instead, charities need to create an environment where fundraisers have more autonomy over their work and can develop and practice a wide range of professional skills.
“Yet many fundraisers have stories to tell about how their targets, activities and procedures were imposed on them from above.
“It’s about more than just ‘doing good’ should be a wake-up call for all of us involved in recruiting and managing fundraisers. Retaining fundraisers for the long haul is vital if we want to build lasting and meaningful relationships with our supporters. And the good news is, with modest investments in CPD and adaptability in our approach to managing fundraisers, we can turn the tide on fundraiser attrition.”
The new report can be downloaded from Rogare.
About Hannah Kowszun
Committed South Londoner Hannah has worked and volunteered for nonprofits for most of her professional life, specialising in fundraising, communications and strategy development. She has worked for charities both large and small, as well as being a trustee for charities with no staff at all. She was part of the team at Macmillan Cancer Support that grew the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning from £7 million to £20 million in the space of two years.
Motivated by her experiences as an employee, she gained a Masters in Organizational Psychology – the scientific study of human behaviour in the workplace. She is passionate about the potential for nonprofits to be better employers, inspired by their uniqueness rather than adapting approaches from the corporate sector. Hannah is currently an independent consultant, specialising in support for nonprofits.
Hannah told UK Fundraising – or rather its audience:
“I’d really like to thank your readers because they’re the reason we had so many fundraisers take part in the research”.
- Research reveals what makes fundraisers tick (27 October 2022)
- The New Fundraisers – who organises charitable giving in contemporary society by Professor Beth Breeze
- Rogare launches manifesto for the fundraiser (31 May 2022)
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.