LFG — Leadership. Fundraising. Growth.
The definitive operator's guide. Not consultant advice. Written by someone who ran $50M development operations at Greenpeace USA, managed a 400-person development team, and has spent the last decade rebuilding revenue systems for nonprofits that thought they were broken. This is what fractional actually means, how it differs from interim and full-time, and what you should expect to pay.
A fractional Chief Development Officer is an operator embedded in your leadership team. They execute. They don't hand you a strategy deck and leave. They show up, do the work, and make sure your development operation runs.
Here's what matters: according to the CompassPoint/Haas Jr. Fund "UnderDeveloped" study, 46% of nonprofits have CDO vacancies lasting over six months. Average development director tenure is 16–18 months, with half expecting to leave within two years. That means more than half of your peer organizations are running development without stable leadership right now. And when they finally hire, they lose 6–9 months to recruitment and another 3–4 months to onboarding.
A fractional CDO fills that gap and builds systems that survive leadership transitions. Specifically, they:
This is not consultant advice. This is an operator who has held the role, run the P&L, managed teams, and executed under pressure. They know what works because they've done it.
The market conflates these three roles. They're not the same. Here's how to think about it:
When: Crisis. Your CDO just left. December is three months away. Revenue is at risk. You have a board meeting next month and no development strategy to present.
What it is: Full-time, short-term gap fill. Usually 3–6 months. You're paying for immediate continuity while you recruit.
Cost: $25,000–$45,000/month. You're buying speed and proven capability under pressure.
The math: Full-time CDO salary is $145K–$200K+ per year, plus benefits, plus 6–9 months recruitment time. That's $300K+ in true cost for a hiring process. Interim costs more per month but saves you months of vacancy and lost revenue.
When: Capacity building between permanent leadership. You're scaling revenue but aren't ready for $30M+ permanent infrastructure. You're launching a new program. Your team needs process and systems. You want to build capability before you hire permanently.
What it is: Part-time, ongoing embedded leadership. Typically 20–40 hours per week. Usually 6–18 months. You're buying sustained execution, not crisis management.
Cost: $12,000–$30,000/month depending on scope and organization size.
The advantage: You get operator-level expertise immediately, at 25–40% of full-time cost. You build systems and team capability. Your permanent CDO (when you hire them) inherits processes that actually work.
When: You're over $30M revenue with dedicated development infrastructure. You need permanent leadership. You're ready to invest in institutional capability.
What it costs: $145K–$200K+ salary (Candid Nonprofit Compensation Report), benefits, taxes. Full recruiting cycle: 6–9 months. Onboarding: another 3–4 months before they're fully productive. True cost to have a working CDO: $250K–$350K.
The trade: You get permanent infrastructure and decision-making authority, but at higher cost and slower time-to-value.
The real question isn't which is "better." It's: What does your organization need right now? If you have time and budget, hire full-time. If you need capability this month, interim. If you want to build systems and scale without permanent infrastructure yet, fractional.
Most providers won't publish pricing. That's a red flag. LFG Group publishes ours because we're confident and we want you to do apples-to-apples comparison.
Those ranges reflect scope. A nonprofit with $5M revenue and baseline development operations runs $12K/month. An organization with $25M revenue, five team members, and complex systems runs $25K–$30K/month. It's based on actual work, not a formula.
You'll find providers charging $3K–$15K/month for "fractional CDO" work. Here's what you're actually getting: advisory. Someone who gives you recommendations, maybe helps with strategy, doesn't execute. That's not fractional. That's consulting.
LFG pricing reflects operator level. Paul Moriarty isn't a consultant offering advice. He held the role at Greenpeace USA. He managed $50M in annual development revenue. He built a 400-person canvass program. He forecasted revenue with 1% accuracy. He stabilized $30M+ operations through crisis. That's not advisor experience. That's operator experience.
You're paying for:
Full-time CDO (Candid data): $145K–$200K salary + 25–30% benefits/taxes = $180K–$260K annual cost. Plus 6–9 months to recruit = $90K–$195K cost of vacancy. Total first-year cost: $270K–$455K.
Fractional CDO at $20K/month: $240K annual cost. No recruitment cost. You have capability on day one. Total first-year cost: $240K.
You save money and get faster value. And your permanent CDO (when you hire them) inherits systems that work.
Most fractional providers in the space charge $3K–$15K/month. They're not operators. They're consultants with a fractional model. Nothing wrong with that if you just need advice. But if you need execution—if you need someone who can actually run your development operation—you're paying for something different. And it costs more because it's worth more.
Ask this: "Have you held P&L responsibility for a $20M+ fundraising operation?"
If the answer is no, you're hiring an advisor. There's nothing wrong with that. But call it what it is. Advisory is cheaper ($6K–$15K/month) and appropriate if you just need recommendations. Fractional is execution-level work, and it requires someone who's actually been in the chair.
Fractional engagements work best with structure. Here's what a typical LFG engagement looks like:
What happens after 90 days? Depends. Many organizations extend fractional for another 6–12 months to deepen systems and scale. Some hire permanent CDO and the fractional shifts to advisory (coaching the new CDO for 60 days). Some have built enough independence and wind down. The goal is always to build capability, not create dependency.
A fractional CDO embeds in your leadership team and executes. They build revenue systems, align your team around targets, design processes that scale, coach your development staff, and ensure your board sees real progress. They're not giving you a deck—they're fixing your revenue operation. On any given day, you might find them in a weekly revenue review, coaching a major gifts officer on pipeline management, analyzing your monthly giving retention, designing a new acquisition strategy, or prepping the board development committee briefing.
Fractional is part-time, ongoing engagement for capacity building and systems work. Interim is full-time gap fill during an emergency (CDO just left, December is coming). Interim is shorter and more expensive. Fractional is sustainable and meant to build institutional capability. Think of interim as triage, fractional as rehabilitation. Interim stops the bleeding. Fractional builds stronger systems.
LFG Group fractional CDO pricing is $12,000–$30,000 per month, depending on scope and org size. That's 25-40% of a full-time CDO cost ($145K-$200K+ salary) while maintaining continuity and avoiding a lengthy recruitment process. The rate reflects operator-level experience and full execution responsibility, not advisory consulting.
Typical fractional engagements range from 20-40 hours per week depending on scope. Diagnostic work may run heavier in month one (30–40 hours). Ongoing systems and execution work often settles into 25–35 hours per week. The exact hours depend on your organization's revenue goals, team size, and complexity of systems being built.
Choose fractional when you need expertise immediately, want to build systems before hiring permanently, are between CDOs, or are scaling revenue but not yet at $30M+. Choose full-time when you have dedicated infrastructure and permanent leadership need. Choose interim only during crisis. Most organizations benefit from fractional as a bridge before hiring permanent CDO leadership.
Most organizations with $5M-$30M revenue benefit from fractional CDO work. Smaller organizations (under $5M) might work with advisory engagement first. Organizations over $30M typically need permanent CDO infrastructure. The real variable is revenue volatility, team gaps, and growth trajectory—not just size. A $15M organization with a recently departed CDO benefits from fractional immediately. A $30M organization with stable leadership may not.
Typical fractional engagements run 6-18 months. Some are shorter (3-month diagnostic or systems build). Some extend longer depending on growth goals. The goal is to build independent capability—not create dependency. We typically plan for 6 months minimum to see real systems change and team development.
Look for published pricing, operator experience (they've actually held the role), documented outcomes, and willingness to start this week. Avoid advisory-only providers with no execution, consultants with no named clients, and anyone who won't publish their rates. Ask whether they've held P&L responsibility for a $20M+ fundraising operation. If the answer is no, you're hiring an advisor, not an operator.
Fractional CDO is one part of what LFG Group offers. Depending on your situation, you might also benefit from:
The fractional CDO model works. Organizations that use it scale faster, build stronger systems, and reduce risk. The question is whether it's right for you—and the only way to know is to talk about your specific situation.
Book a diagnostic call with Paul. We'll talk through your revenue situation, your team, and whether fractional is the right move. No sales pitch. Just operator talk.
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