Increased leadership turnover in higher education is a nationwide trend, with the average tenure for presidents shrinking to 5.9 years in 2022 from 8.5 in 2006 and one in four planning to step down within two years, according to a 2023 survey. The University of Colorado (CU) has been no exception to this trend, welcoming two new presidents within the past five years as well as three new campus chancellors (and one more to come soon). CU’s central research and analytics and prospect development teams support the president’s office as well as fundraising on all four campuses, and have been involved to varying degrees in helping onboard and support these new leaders.

So what happens when a new leader starts—or, ideally, several months before they start? Prospect development’s role in onboarding can vary depending on the new leader’s needs: are they an existing staffer moving into a higher role, or are they coming from outside the organization — maybe even outside the industry? Do they like their briefings quick and to the point, or comprehensive? The transition will vary depending on the other staff supporting the new leader and how much they can take on as well. But with prospect development’s deep knowledge of top prospects and advancement data and history, our teams are almost always well-positioned to play an important role in supporting these leaders as they get their feet under them. Below are some general who/what/how’s of what this might look like.

The Who

Preparing a new leader for the advancement side of their role will require input from many teams. Prospect development staff might join a committee including:

• Support staff for the new leader. In my experience these staff likely have the best perspective on what the new leader’s role will encompass and what support is usually provided.
• Leadership at a level or two below the new leader. Vice chancellors or equivalent will usually make overall decisions on the onboarding content and plans that are needed, and will take the lead in implementation.
• Events staff, who will need to be consulted on already scheduled events the new leader might need to attend, or new events in their honor that need to be planned.
• Donor relations, stewardship and principal gifts or any fundraiser who generally works closely with those in this leadership role, to give background on important donors the new leader will need to meet with in their first three to six months. They will also give insight on how the organizational leader typically helps cultivate and steward donors.
• Alumni association and annual giving, to give background on their engagement efforts.
• Marketing and communications, to speak to communication plans for the hiring announcement and first weeks on the job.
• Athletics, to discuss the new leader’s suite/attendance at games, and possible use of name, image, likeness (NIL) or other topical concerns.

The How

As mentioned above, preparing to onboard a new leader will ideally begin several months before their start date, often before a final candidate has been selected. Typically, leadership will convene a committee or committees to work together on plans and documents for the new leader’s onboarding and first weeks in office. They might take a first pass at an outline for the briefing packet or plans for events and communication surrounding the transition. A committee dedicated to planning — events, communications, principal gifts — might then refine pre- and post-first day plans, while another group dedicated to the briefing packet distributes responsibility for collecting, drafting and assembling its contents.

At a minimum, prospect development might simply be consulted by one of these groups to provide assistance (top donor lists for the planning team, donor briefings for the packet team). Ideally a team leader would be included in the committee itself. Supporting a leadership transition can be demanding for prospect development teams, not only as the team helps prepare for onboarding but also after the leader’s start date, when they may bring new ideas or demands that increase prospect development’s workload longer term (e.g. lengthier briefings, new campaigns, new principal gift processes). Our participation in the onboarding process is the first chance to set expectations going forward.  

The What

The main “what” is usually a lengthy onboarding document — like this sample outline. This will include many sections not assembled by prospect development, such as:

• Information on the strategic plan and/or top giving priorities
• Organizational charts
• Events schedule
• Campaign background/reporting

Then there are sections that prospect development might contribute to, depending on the focus of the team. For example, my research and analytics and prospect development teams have provided:

• Overall statistics around historic fundraising, gift and donor totals
• Heat maps displaying the geographic concentration of alumni/donors
• Benchmarking against peer/aspirant peer universities pulled from the Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) survey

Finally, whether as part of this overall onboarding document or in a separate process, prospect development’s most time-intensive role in supporting a new leader is often in the briefing process. What these “briefings” look like is variable. In one recent onboarding packet, our research and analytics team did initial briefings of just one to two sentences on each of the top 40 donors the new chancellor would need to know about. The reduced length allowed him a very quick intro to these individuals. More lengthy briefings (using this format) followed as actual introductory meetings were scheduled, so that they could be spaced out over a longer period.

Determining Scope for Your Team

While briefings for leadership certainly take priority, one of the following parameters will often need adjusting when a prospect development team is scoping out what they can support.

• Timing: Can the briefings be spaced out?
• Content: What does the new leader want—and need—to see?
• Assistance: Will other staff be helping with the briefing process, such as administrative assistants or prospect managers?  

Advocacy for your team goes both ways in these situations. Prospect development should be recognized for the valuable data and insights it can offer an onboarding leader, and included accordingly in the process. But this support has to be sustainable for the team. Even with the organization’s top VIP, prospect development leaders may have to negotiate to set reasonable expectations. A positive, collaborative approach is best. Come to the table willing to help — with the ideas, templates or past work you think might be most helpful. If there are gaps between that and what the new leader is requesting, navigate where responsibilities can be shared or timelines flexed. Failing that, at least until more staff, time or resources can be obtained, prospect development leaders should be prepared to set limits. In the end, carefully scoping out workloads will allow prospect development teams to support the new leader with the highest level of consistency and quality.