The death of advancement services
Just over a decade ago, Andy Chan (then VP of Personal and Career Development at Wake Forest University) argued that "career services must die." It was a provocative statement, meant to jolt people into realizing the 'model' needed a fundamental rethink.
Fast forward 10 years, and Advancement Services - the operational wing of development and alumni relations offices - looks like the next unit on the 'traditional model' chopping block.
Historically, Advancement Services has taken on many different monikers:
Back of the House
The Engine Room
Behind the Curtain
The People that make things happen
The "data people" or the "the database folks"
The non-front-facing staff
While there is nothing fundamentally wrong with being the 'Engine Room', the reality is that the perception of Advancement Services has always been in 'a service'.
Advancement Services is a 'responsive' service, responding to requests for processing gifts, requests for data, lists, bios, and a myriad of other things that support 'frontline work'. Where advancement services is usually implicated in strategy, is in the implementation, not the development of the strategy.
So how can we position the next iteration of Advancement Services as a 'partner' in strategy within the organization? The focus has to be on driving value in a way that is different from the other areas of leadership - namely in development and engagement.
The future of Advancement Services is open ended. I am suggesting three areas that Advancement Services can position both it's existing complement of portfolios and take its place at the strategy table of the advancement organization .
All of the options below are to be integrated alongside the existing traditional complement of Advancement Services, thereby keeping operational services such as Research, Pipeline Management, Data, Records, Gift Processing etc. within the framework (if already distributed that way), while integrating strategic areas of the business into its portfolio:
Option One: Advancement Performance and Strategy
Purpose: Focused on building high performance teams and driving the implementation of strategic initiatives across the organization
Potential New Competencies:
Performance Management: focusing on individuals, teams, and the organization as a whole (including setting targets, providing performance tools and fostering a culture of high performance).
Talent Development: developing and implementing an organizational people strategy that includes a hiring strategy, unit-specific onboarding, and building an advancement Centre of Excellence within the organization.
Strategic Initiatives: leading projects that cut across teams and impact the entire organization, rather than them being led by other units as an addendum to their core functions.
Competitive Difference: A dedicated office focusing on getting the best out of the largest investment and asset within an organization: the people.
Option Two: Advancement Growth and Innovation
Purpose: Focused on driving growth within and across the organization, primarily through innovation and technology.
Potential New Competencies:
People Growth: developing and implementing an organizational people strategy that includes a hiring strategy, unit-specific onboarding, and building an advancement Centre of Excellence within the organization.
Productivity Growth: identifying areas of improvement and potential efficiencies to implement across the organization, focusing on removing systemic friction points.
Innovation Projects: taking the role of an 'internal consultant' to identify and address the largest challenges across the organization.
Competitive Difference: An office focused on ensuring that the organization is able to scale it's processes, capabilities, and people effectively and efficiently alongside it's fundraising growth.
Option Three: Advancement Planning and Operations
Purpose: Focused on building integrated strategic plans and ensuring capabilities to deliver on goals.
Potential New Competencies:
Strategic Planning: building annual and long-term plans with an 'Advancement-Wide' lens, ensuring the impact of each unit is connected and equal to something greater than the sum of it's constituent parts
Operational Excellence: understanding and building an efficient and effective advancement operation, optimizing along the constituent and employee life cycle.
Innovation Initiatives: taking the role of an 'internal consultant' to identify and address the largest challenges across the organization.
Competitive Difference: An office focused on delivering a 'seamless' strategy across the organization, rather than stitching together constituent parts. It requires a deep understanding of all aspects of the business, along with critical strategic planning and stakeholder management skills.
Why Today?
Most Advancement teams are undertaking all or some of these activities already. Some might even have dedicated teams focused on them. However, the vast majority of our industry is still running on an antiquated 'Advancement Services' delivery model.
What got us to this level will not necessarily get us to the next level. We need to rethink what the organization needs in this new age of digital optimization, artificial intelligence, and delivering disproportionate impact.
What is the raison d'être of Advancement Services? That is the question we need to answer to determine how we should approach the future of Advancement Services. For the last decade, it’s been something of an “engine room” for development and alumni relations offices. But is it time for that to change? Or can we reframe what that means?
There is an opportunity to fundamentally restructure our teams to be oriented towards 'solving the big challenges', rather running the 'day-to-day operations.'.
It's time: Advancement Services needs to step out from behind the curtain and take it's place at the 'front of the house'.
