Development Communications… Development or Communications?
If you’re hiring for a development communications role or are thinking about creating one in your organization, you have probably asked yourself, “Which department should this position be in—Communications or Development?”
While the role functions in service to both departments in different ways, it should not have a dual report. Juggling competing demands is inherent to the job; no one should have to juggle two bosses.
So, let’s look at both options.
In Development
The development communicator is primarily going to be responsible for some combination of strategy, writing, and production related to engagement, annual giving, planned giving, major gifts, and donor relations. It will be critical to build relationships with each team and be able to see the big picture of how they all relate to each other, despite the inevitable silos. Embedding the position among those colleagues makes sense then, right?
Not necessarily.
Development communications don’t exist in a vacuum. They are an extension of your organization's brand and identity that foster a culture of philanthropy. That means you have to infuse development messaging and storytelling into communications for a wide audience.
This can get tricky.
I have worked with truly fabulous communications professionals in my career, but some of them were really turned off by anything related to fundraising. Not only did they not think about development messaging, they actively rejected it. Overcoming that challenge requires time and trust. It won’t necessarily be easy, but it will be much harder if you’re not on the same team.
In Communications
Locating the role in Communications may appear to distance the person occupying it from the work for development, but it has a number of benefits. Chief among them is making this function a core part of the communications team to break down barriers. It also makes it easier to create opportunities proactively, such as:
The Communication leader can set a pro-development tone within their own team to combat bias.
Including the position on the editorial team for your alumni magazine or other flagship publications
Allowing the position to be in the inner circle when controversies or crises arise that can impact the messaging or timing of development communications
Helping Development colleagues better understand the work of Communications, from the simple (like printing logistics) to the complex (such as crisis communications).
Working across departments creates an internal “consultant/client” relationship that allows for greater strategic partnership and ease of prioritizing incoming requests.
Can all of this be done with the development communicator sitting in Development? Sure. They can have a seat at the Communications table from outside of the department. But, in my experience, they’ll have an easier time if they’re a member of the family and not a guest.