The Two Most Important Words in Philanthropic Facilitation: “Because You”
The two most important words in philanthropic facilitation are, “Because you”. As in: “Because you have such a vested interest…
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3 Ways Major Gift Fundraisers Can Talk About Legacy Giving Without Reminding Donors About Death
Planned gifts often constitute some of the biggest gifts charities ever receive. But winning them requires you to make the…
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The Tragedy of Transactional Fundraising
Practitioners of transactional fundraising and the cultures who default to it will never know, see, foster, or benefit from the…
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The Secret to Raise Money More Cost-Effectively: Stop Fundraising
The longer I work with nonprofits, the more convinced I become that one of my core beliefs is true: If…
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Philanthropic Partnership Building Begins With Setting the Right Tone
Gone are the days – or so they should be: Of imagining in splendid isolation what donors should do for…
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10 Questions You Should Ask Your Wealthy Supporters to Motivate them to Give
One of the most effective strategies for major gifts fundraising is to help your donors advance their personal hero story.…
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How Fundraising Overcomplicated Philanthropic Facilitation
Philanthropic facilitation is as old as human history. It began when two or more people saw a common need or…
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What Gift Officers Should Write in Their LinkedIn ‘About’ Section
I think too many major gifts fundraisers – and people in most other industries as well – are not using…
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If Less Than 80% of Your Volunteers are Giving, Something Is Wrong
We customize our approaches for each client, whether it is for consulting or training, by looking at their longitudinal data…
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How Many Major Donors Are You Overlooking Right Under Your Nose?
The usual methods for identifying and qualifying major donors are costing your organization huge amounts of money if you are…
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Most Senior Fundraisers Don’t Need Training; They Need Treatment
You’re always outnumbered. No matter how much fundraising experience and philanthropic wisdom you acquire, you’re always surrounded by completely inexperienced…
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Building Major Gifts Caseloads – Why Traditional Methods Fail to Accurately Qualify Donors
It’s a problem as old as fundraising. How do you find, attract, and qualify people who can give major gifts…
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What’s Your Reason for Requesting The First Meeting With a Prospective Donor?
What’s your reason for requesting the first meeting with a prospective donor? The ones I hear most often, including the…
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4 Primal Motives for Major Gifts – the REAL Reasons People Make Transformational Gifts
Understanding the motives for why donors make major gifts is a big part of successful fundraising. This is how we…
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Planting Seeds: The Step Before Cultivation
Funny how we use the word “cultivation” so often but rarely address the preceding step, “planting.” Philanthropic potential is like…
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Secrets for Turning Small Donors into Major Donors
You know they’re in there, somewhere in your donor database. You just need to find them – those small donors…
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The Days of Easy Fundraising are Over
The days of easy fundraising are over. Now we need to face up to the hard parts of securing and…
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Major Donor Stewardship – Million Dollar Experiences for Million Dollar Donors
Your biggest major donors simply cannot be treated like all your other donors. If you’re like most mid-size and larger…
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Comfort Zones: The Places That Foster the Fullest Expressions of Philanthropy
My concern with so much of traditional fundraising is that it puts one or more parties in an uncomfortable position.…
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Dazzle Your Donor Prospects with an Upgraded LinkedIn Headline
Many major gift officers don’t realize that one of the things some wealthy donor prospects do after receiving a first…
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The Essence of Philanthropy: A Vision That Endures
I believe: Fundraising and philanthropy are not interchangeable terms, that the former is dependent on the latter; if fundraising assumes…
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Why AI and Machine Learning Fail to Help Fundraisers Build ‘QUALIFIED’ Major Donor Portfolios (or Caseloads)
AI and machine learning are the new buzzwords in the prospect identification field proposing yet another solution to the challenge…
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Why You Need to Revolutionize Your Fundraising
A giving revolution has already occurred. So, the longer you wait to adapt to it, the farther behind you will…
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How to Help Your Wealthiest Supporters Solicit Themselves
What results in a bigger gift? A) Being convinced to give B)Deciding to give on your own? Your job as…
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