In the wake of funding cuts, contract terminations, and staff layoffs, revenue generation became the priority for many organizations this year. While hiring remains generally slow across the sector, experts told Devex that there is a demand for business development expertise as organizations look for new ways to bring in money amid an increasingly competitive funding landscape.
But business development roles today look quite different from what they once were.
Unsurprisingly, many organizations are turning away from the sector's long-standing funders. “Business development, fundraising, and income generation used to indirectly mean government funding or institutional funding,” said Firas El Dib, principal consultant for Prospectus recruitment firm. But “no one's really interested in securing funds from governments anymore.”