Exploring fundraising executives' careers in arts and culture: The role of tenure and career switching

Abstract

Fundraisers play a crucial role in helping arts and culture organizations obtain the financial resources they need to carry out their missions and support their causes. However, research on fundraisers' careers is still in its infancy. As the profession gains importance, understanding the main motivating factors of fundraisers' career paths is key. This study investigates the effects of three variables that emerged as relevant motivations for fundraiser careers, that is, education, career promotion and sector experience, on fundraising executives' tenure and career switching. In addition, this research identifies profiles of fundraising executives in the arts and culture organizations in the United States. Moreover, this study explores the role of non-profit orientation as a moderator of the relationship between career switching and tenure, and parallel titles as a moderator of the relationship between sector experience and tenure. Managerial implications are outlined.