US institutions’ advancement teams not keeping up with increasingly diverse donor pool

Post-secondary institutions in the United States are bracing for fundraising challenges as their development staff diversity fails to keep pace with a new generation of philanthropists who are looking to support students with similar backgrounds or experiences. One expert noted that 20% of senior fundraisers in the US plan to retire in the next four years. The expert added that only 11% of front-line fund-raisers or gift officers are people of colour, while 12% overall are from diverse backgrounds. “College fundraising is not keeping pace with changing student demographics,” says expert Liz Rothenberg. “There's a lot of worry, especially if you consider that the U.S. will be a majority-minority country in 2045.” Inside Higher Ed