Best posts Q4 2016
Major Gift End of the Year To-Do List
Major gift end of the year to dos are not the same as your annual giving big push and wrap up. For annual giving, your focus is on the final appeal for the year, working Read more…
high value donors
Three Powerful Major Gift Questions You Might Not Be Asking
You already know the importance of asking strategic questions and listening to understand (rather than to respond or even worse not listen and only react). Having strategic conversations with your donors, helps you establish rapport, Read more…
high value donors
What does major gift excellence require?
I don’t mean what you need to get the job or even how to keep it. Too many nonprofits are willing to settle for less than the best. There are more available positions than there Read more…
high value donors
Three Types of Major Gift Karma – Are you taking advantage of all three?
Pay it Forward I landed my first job in fundraising as an unprepared novice with big responsibilities and a bottom line to achieve. For the past seven years, I’d been home raising two children, doing Read more…
acquisition
Can you create a culture of increased giving?
Propelling your organization to double-digit growth, exponential mission impact, and leadership in your movement, there are only a few strategies that consistently make the grade. Focus on major gifts from all sources Make individual giving Read more…
donors
Think, Feel, Do Major Gift Magic
I just finished re-reading “Deep Dive” by Rich Horwath, a book about strategic thinking. It reminded me how important that competency is to successful major gift work. There are lots of conversations on and offline Read more…
high value donors
Making and KEEPING Major Gift (and Personal) New Year’s Resolutions
I do it every year. Think about what I want to do differently in the months ahead. Lose weight. Exercise more. Learn a language. Be a more effective manager. Listen. January finds me strong and Read more…
high value donors
December “Glass Balls” for Major Gift Teams
We all have to juggle responsibilities. News commentator Leslie Stahl admonishes us to identify our glass balls, those tasks that we cannot drop under any circumstances. When those balls shatter, the consequences are either dire, Read more…
donors
If It Were Easy To Do, We Wouldn’t Need You
Major gift fundraising at its best can transform an organization. When an inspired potential donor says, “We have to make that happen,” “It’s critical that we solve this societal problem,” “How can I help?” incredible Read more…
donor service
Spring and Special Events – Magical or Deadly?
For readers in the northern hemisphere, spring special event season is just around the corner. And they can be deadly. Back-to-back events, exhausting staff and volunteers, not netting enough, no time for follow-up from one Read more…
donor service
The Promise of Customer Service and of Making a Difference
Two sides of the same coin.
When we solicit a gift, we are making a promise to our donors. We promise to manage their money with care. We pledge to spend it as we agreed, advertised, stated in our appeal. We promise that the donor’s investment will accomplish something important, change or save a life, protect our planet and its inhabitants, advance our faith and values, achieve real good.
If we are wise, we also promise customer service in addition to making a difference. At the time of solicitation, we promise to report on the impact the donor has made. To connect the donor with that outcome. Donors Choose, for example, makes a promise up front that they will spend your money as agreed or return it to you if they can’t fulfil their promise. They state on their website that you will hear from the teachers and students your investments support. In clear, concise language, they promise customer service and making a difference. (more…)
Latest posts
Benchmarking and Goal Setting – Is Second Best, Best?
My friend Marianne accused me of living in “Karen Land,” a place where everything is perfect and there are no obstructions to success. “The rest of us,” she said, “live in reality.” She’s right. When Read more…
governance
Speed Dating Is Not the Path to a Great Board
A great board should be a force multiplier filled with “connectors to mission-critical constituents” as Jon Glaudemans of Ascension Health says. People who know and care about our mission and organization. Leaders who have integrity, grit, empathy, humility and the will to succeed on behalf of the people, beliefs and planet we serve. Generous people inspired by what we do, wise workers and committed philanthropic investors.
Yeah, right. Are you rolling your eyes or wiping them because you believe in the list but have no hope of getting there? (more…)
face-to-face
Smiles Lead to More Major Gifts
This is not leap, a hop maybe but definitely not a leap. Fact One: Scientists discovered and recently reported in www.wjs.com that smiles reduce stress.
Who knew? (more…)
high value donors
Plot Your Course for 2013 Leadership and Major Gift Success
By now, you have crunched your year-end numbers from leadership annual and major gifts and know exactly where you landed in 2012. What worked, and what didn’t work. For too many of us, we track Read more…
high value donors
Hire for competencies, train for skills
I’m asked all the time, “What should I look for in a great gift officer?” “How many years of experience should I require?” “What size gifts should the candidates have closed?” My response, “Experience is Read more…
communication
Can Thank You Notes be BAD?
Just writing them is enough, right?
A few Sundays ago, I read an article in the Jobs section of my local newspaper, “The Journal News,”
“Don’t forget the ‘thank you.’” The author, Susan Ricker of careerbuilder.com, was discussing the attributes of a good thank you note after a job interview and it got me thinking about our thank you notes, the ones we all write to donors, event attendees, volunteers, and colleagues inside and outside of our organizations.
Are we getting the job done? (more…)