Definition of WORTH (with apologies to the Oxford English Dictionary for a few VERY minor changes – but only in the example sentences) Adjective 1: equivalent in value to the sum or item specified. “A Read more…
Last year a philanthropist approached me. He told me about the philanthropist community he started. With this he wants to inspire people to give more, and to help them achieve maximum impact with their gifts. Read more…
I used to jokingly tell people I was a professional “reacher-outer.” My day-to-day was just a fire hose of prospect outreach. But so often, I wouldn’t hear anything back. Nothing. So, I’d follow-up. Then I’d circle back, check in, touch base, ping, ping some more, and leave another message. And chase it with one last follow-up email. (more…)
Along with the World Cup (depending on the team, of course), we celebrate fund raising achievements. We look at results and trends from last year and partly with a sigh of relief and hope for this year: in 2013 in US charitable giving was at the same level it was before the financial crisis and in UK there was an £800m increase in donations. So, why we shouldn’t do better this year? In reality we should also ask ourselves if this is the result of more people giving or if we are simply fishing in the same pond with a lower offer. Mark Astarita, the fundraising director of British Red Cross and outgoing chair of UK Institute of Fundraising, simply put it “Over 30 years of professional fundraising have we grown the pie, are more people giving? I’m not so sure.” And Ken Burnett argued that the actual costs of acquisition with typical low retention rates are not sustainable and charities would be stupid if they don’t take action to avoid eating their seed corn. (more…)
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…
What is your biggest fear?
I’ve often heard that more people are afraid of public speaking than of death. In the non-profit world, I think more fundraisers are afraid of asking for money than the death of their organization.
I work in major gifts. I ask people of means to invest large amounts of money in the cause I represent. I love it. But, I find it shocking how often fundraisers say to me: “I could NEVER do what you do” or “How can you ask someone to give YOU all that money”. I’ve heard similar objections to direct mail asks, door-to-door programs and asking donors to consider legacy gifts.
Fundraisers everywhere are ASK-averse, ASK-phobic, and worse yet anti-ASK. (more…)
In a series of though provoking articles, the New York Times asked prominent philanthropists and scholars to discuss the status of contemporary giving and charities. Peter Buffet (son of Warren Buffet and Chairman of NoVo Read more…
My dearest family, friends, fundraisers, and donors: In his 2010 Christmas letter, a donor wrote Count that day lost whose low descending sun sees at thy hand no worthy action done. This appears in the Read more…
The New Lexicon of Fundraising: Part 6 Greek word: ‘philanthropos’ = Humanity loving There has never been so much interest, focus or activity around what we have traditionally called ‘major donors’.The Sector has a new Read more…
Is this you? Tiny NGO? One staffer? No resources? And now the board intends to shoot you out of a cannon with an ill-prepared capital campaign? Survive the circus by following these tips: 1. Borrow from Read more…
Today is the 67th Independence Day of India. Such milestones are good time to reflect on the past and forecast the way forward. Hence I will focus on fundraising insights from India, one of the countries that are generating tremendous fundraising interest globally. These reflections are based on my ‘on-the-ground’ experiences working with non-profit leaders, fundraisers, corporate decision makers as well as donors and philanthropist in India and across Asia. (more…)
I spend my life ‘on the road’ visiting many different countries and cultures every year and having the huge privilege of experiencing the constantly changing and evolving fundraising sector at work. Every trip is a Read more…
Corporate funding is a hot potato within many NGO’s: lively debates filled with emotion. But how do you judge the (valid) sensitivities and define whether or not corporate support may harm your charity in any Read more…
At =mc we’ve been working a lot recently on fundraising and income growth strategies with a range of agencies- from global ones like UNICEF to national ones like AIDS Fonds/Stop Aids Now! in Holland. We’re also helping a number of local museums in the UK cope with local government cutbacks.
The strategies we were discussing for these agencies were obviously very different and were designed to deliver very different outcomes. (more…)
Donors are awesome! I really like them. All of them. We chat in person and on the phone, I’ve been to their houses, met their grandchildren, exchanged preserves, shared food and stories. They write me Read more…
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…)
A good major gifts fundraiser knows that an ask centers on the 5 R’s: the right person asking the right prospect for the right project, at the right time for the right amount. But many Read more…
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…
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…
Two weeks ago I attended my 7th IFC in a row and I had great fun. Every time I go through all my notes in the weekend after the IFC, to think about the things Read more…
The Colonel and the College
On 23rd June 2009 the governing Council of the London School of Economics (LSE) agreed to accept a gift from a group of companies in Libya channelled via the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, controlled by Saif Gaddafi, son of Colonel Gaddafi the country’s ruler. In July 2009 LSE awarded Saif a PhD in philosophy. This story emerged in the media only after the uprising against the Gaddafi regime began in February 2011.
LSE was attacked in the UK press for having accepted the gift and the controversy grew so severe that by March 2011 the Director of the LSE resigned. The LSE Council later funded an independent enquiry led by Lord Woolf.
As Lord Woolf’s report makes clear, when the gift was being considered Libya was being seen as a potential friend by the West. The UN Arms Embargo had been lifted in 2003 and Libya was dropped from the list of “countries that sponsor terrorism” in 2007. The Colonel had met Tony Blair in 2007. By 2009, Libya was seen as progressing steadily in the right direction.
But just two years later the Colonel had become a reputational risk. The School’s reputation had been damaged, and the Director’s neck was on the block. (more…)
“Why is it, that so many nonprofit organizations send in applications to foundations, without even taking the time to find out where these foundations stand for?” I was having a conversation with Jos Verhoeven, managing director of the Dutch Start Foundation. He continued: “I just don’t get it. About 25% of the applications we receive as a foundation, have nothing to do with the mission we stand for. I mean, if you need a mortgage, you don’t go to supermarket to get one, do you? So why send in applications to foundations that don’t match with your mission?”
Earlier this year we interviewed 10 senior fundraisers in the Dutch Market to ask them if the economic turmoil changed their opinion about the fundraising potential in their market. And, if any, where they saw fundraising opportunities.
The question is: Where is the money? And how to get it? (more…)
I am a relationship manager and I really like my job. One thing I like about it is the diversity: you meet a wide variety of people. Interesting people. People you would otherwise not meet. This can be the CEO of a large, global company, but it can also be a young owner of a creative start-up. And it can be an 80-year old founder of a large family business, but this can also be a 30-some year old multimillionaire.
Another part of this variety is the fact that you meet these people in different settings, and that you have various types of meetings: thank-you meetings for a spontaneous donation, creative brainstorm meetings, prospecting meetings where you have to give everything in you to secure their support, etc.
Last Monday I had a different type of meeting, joining a colleague of mine. (more…)
One morning last December I went to outer space and plucked a star. We named her Beatrix.
She’s our first, and I’d not had much exposure to newborns before. Even less on how to care for one.
Bea and I’ve taken many long walks these past five months (moves management, verily) and I’ve had time to think back over my twenty-year fundraising career, and if there was anything there that could teach me to be a parent. More interestingly to my colleagues and team, how would giving birth and nurturing a newborn shape my leadership style back at work? (more…)
