Chief Development Officers in Community Colleges: Their Competencies, Characteristics and Professional Skills From the Perspectives of Presidents, Chief Academic Officers and Chief Development Officeres

As
the
nation’s
community
colleges
are
learning
that
they
cannot
continue
to
depend
on
traditional
resources
to
fulfill
their
commitment
to
serving
emerging
community
needs,
the
approach
to
garnering
private
philanthropic
support
is
becoming
a
focus
of
more
presidents
that
includes
investing
in
fundraising
for
their
institutions
on
behalf
of
the
students
and
communities
they
serve.
The
purpose
of
this
study
was
to
identify
underlying
themes
of
chief
development
officer
leadership
competencies
based
on
the
American
Association
of
Community
Colleges’
(AACC,
2006)
six
leadership
competencies.
The
three
groups
participating
in
the
research
(presidents,
chief
academic
officers,
and
chief
development
officers)
were
currently
serving
Michigan’s
28
community
colleges.
Participants
were
asked
to
rank
the
AACC
leadership
competencies
they
thought
were
most
important
as
it
related
to
the
chief
development
officer’s
position
and
performance.
Findings
from
the
quantitative
research
revealed
that
that
presidents
believe
Communication
is
the
most
important
as
it
relates
to
the
chief
development
officer,
whereas
the
chief
academic
officers
ranked
Community
College
Advocacy
the
highest,
and
the
chief
development
officers
ranked
Collaboration
as
the
highest
level
of
importance.
The
chief
development
officer’s
length
of
tenure
did
not
influence
their
ranking
of
the
competencies.
ii
Several
themes
emerged
from
the
qualitative
portion
of
this
study,
which
was
conducted
with
a
subset
of
Michigan
community
college
presidents:
(a)
communication
is
a
vital
skillset
for
presidents;
(b)
presidential
fundraising
preparedness
is
essential
to
fundraising
success;
(c)
fundraising
requires
a
dedicated
time
commitment;
and
(d)
the
traditional
route
to
the
presidency
is
evolving.
This
study
identified
the
importance
of
the
chief
development
officer
position
having
a
broad
understanding
of
the
entire
college
in
order
to
effectively
communicate
the
case
for
donor
investment.
This
study
also
affirmed
that
collaboration,
communication,
and
advocacy
are
important
competencies
for
those
who
aspire
to
become
community
college
chief
development
officers.