All those empty offices in the fund-raising department are costing organizations millions of dollars.

With demand for fund raisers at an all-time high, turnover has become a major concern for many organizations

One example of how costly it can be to lose too many fund raisers at one time comes from the University of California at Irvine.

After several years of steadily increasing contributions, the university reached a record, raising $88-million in 2000.

But the following year, the university’s vice chancellor for advancement resigned, followed six months later by the associate vice chancellor. And in 2002, three other senior fund raisers left. The positions remained vacant for more than a year.

The effect on fund-raising operations was immediate and stark: In 2001 and 2002, donations plunged, declining to $52-million in 2001 and reaching a new low of $35-million in 2002.

While the economic downturn of 2001 could have caused donations to dip even if the fund raisers had stayed, such huge losses are probably a major reason behind the steep drop, says Tom Mitchell, who took the top fund-raising job at Irvine in July 2002.

Mr. Mitchell says it took the university until 2006 to finally surpass its 2000 fund-raising record by raising $101-million.

How much is turnover costing your institution? What have you done about it? Share your thoughts and ideas by clicking on the comment link below this post.