6 Reasons Pausing the Solicitation Process Can Increase the Amount of a Major Gift
Patience is powerful. When pursuing major gifts, it’s tempting to want to go fast, and to accept the first gift…
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The Three Characteristics That Distinguish the Best Advancement Practitioners
What are the three characteristics that distinguish the best advancement practitioners? Integrity, Curiosity, and Discipline. Of the three, integrity is…
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The Zoology of Fundraising: More Chameleons, Fewer Peacocks
The Education Advisory Board, after analyzing donations to 1,217 major-gift officers at 89 colleges and universities in the United States…
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3 Things You Must Define to Receive a $5 Million Gift
A friend of mine recently asked for a $5 Million gift. THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY! But in terms of…
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How gratitude completes the donor hero story
“In myths the hero is the one who conquers the dragon, not the one who is devoured by it.” –…
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“I’ve never told anyone this before.”
If you’re working in major gifts and you’ve never heard this, you might need to alter your approach. Many of…
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Too much major and legacy gift fundraising is focused on HOW, when it should be focused on WHY
What the heck am I talking about? Major gift fundraising communications (especially legacy gift marketing) tend to focus too much…
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Why you need to know the difference between your donor’s implicit vs. explicit needs
Too often fundraisers make assumptions about what donors want. Usually, this is driven by top leaders or board members. They…
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The 8 Components of Engagement Fundraising
There are eight components of my innovative fundraising methodology: 1. Accepting the Pareto principle We’ve called it the 80/20 rule,…
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How Confident Is Your Fundraising Posture?
Put the proposition in human terms. Imagine two people that you observe on multiple occasions: One seems to be playing a…
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Do you have a job or do you have a mission?
“I was on a mission from God.” I met John the first year I started working in major gifts. John…
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How to Reduce the ‘Cost’ of Philanthropy So Major Donors Give More
Teen Talk Barbie famously stated, “Math is hard.”[1] This may be particularly true in fundraising. Giving is motivated by social emotion. Triggering math,…
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Don’t Give Up!
“I’ve already made all of my giving decisions for this year, so there’s no reason for us to meet.” Here…
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The Most Important Lessons Learned by Retail Clothes Stores: With Obvious Parallels to Fundraising
If customers don’t see themselves in what you offer, they won’t come in the store. Those that come in are…
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How to Lower the ‘Cost’ of Philanthropy So Your Supporters Donate Major Gifts of Assets
In fundraising, a gift results when motivation overcomes cost. Increasing motivation helps. So does lowering cost. These make the gift easier. But sometimes, these…
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Don’t get fooled by metrics without context
No one cares how much money you’ve raised. Displaying how much money you’ve raised on your website, on your LinkedIn,…
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3 Ways You Can Alter Your Perspective and Approach Toward Wealthy Donors So You Raise More Money
In my previous article, which you can read here, I outlined three challenges wealthy people face when they start exploring…
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Philanthropy happens in person, not at your computer
When getting started in Major Gifts, don’t be ashamed of starting small. When I first started as a Development Officer…
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5 Strategies for Turning Smaller Major Gifts into Larger Ones
What’s the only thing better in fundraising than a major gift? A bigger major gift. If you’ve been reading this…
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Keep calling!
It took me 16 contacts over a 12-month period to get a visit scheduled with one couple. They then went…
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How the Most Successful Fundraisers Use Stories to Inspire and Motivate Donors to Give
This is the fifth and final post that summarizes a series that tackles why storytelling doesn’t work on its own…
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Here’s What Supporters “Buy” When They Donate to Charity
I think buying and donating are the same. Here’s why. When I give money to a charity, I am buying: A…
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“Sales and Major Gift Fundraising are NOTHING alike!”
I say BS. I’ve encountered several people who believe this, and I don’t understand why they teach it to new…
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9 reasons why people put money in holding pens (such DAFs or foundations) instead of giving directly right away
1. Indecisive. They want and need to give and they might have organizations in mind, but they haven’t decided where…
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