Diane Charness, Giving Magazine, June 2026
GIVING MAGAZINE:
“Fundraising as a career is a unique field. To best assess fit for executive-level candidates, I look for several factors, including progressively more responsible positions, tenure of at least four-plus years in most roles, and breadth and depth of experience in the most important of the development disciplines: major and principal gifts and planned and institutional giving. I also assess their sophistication in using data to drive growth and performance, and the persistence to weather the many obstacles and twists and turns inherent in chief development officer roles.”