Looking to hire a development director or fundraising manager for your nonprofit? These 25 interview questions will help you through the HR hiring process and find the right fundraising executive for your organization. I developed the questions for all levels of candidates: you’ll find job interview questions for those development directors just starting out in their careers all the way to more complex questions for the nonprofit development professional.
- Many people interested in working in a nonprofit want to avoid being a fundraiser. What draws you to fundraising? Why are you interested in this career?
- What do you enjoy about fundraising?
- What fundraising channels do you have the most expertise in?
- What are the top three characteristics of a great fundraiser?
- What is the largest donation ask you’ve ever presented to a potential donor? Did you get it? Why did the donor give or why didn’t the donor give?
- What do you love about this organization?
- What will it take to get millennials to give more?
- Is direct mail dead?
- When should you stop asking a prospect for money?
- How do you build a healthy relationship with a prospect?
- Explain a high level digital giving strategy.
- How do you feel about asking for money?
- Tell me about a fundraising campaign you’ve managed.
- Tell me about a fundraising campaign you’ve managed that failed.
- How would you use telemarketing in your fundraising mix?
- Describe how you would implement a new monthly giving program and motivate donors to start giving to it?
- Is it possible to send too many direct mail letters or emails to a donor?
- Describe a situation where you disagreed with a colleague about a fundraising initiative and how you handled the situation.
- Imagine you have a long-term employee on staff working with your major donors. He’s a “nice guy” but doesn’t meet fundraising quota. What do you do?
- If a board member came to you with advice about how you should be doing fundraising, how would you handle the situation?
- Describe the ideal relationship between the development director and the executive director.
- How do you like to be managed?
- In a previous role, how did your leadership help the organization grow?
- In your role as development director, how do you help the organization meet its goals?
- What do you expect to accomplish in your first 90 days?
