What’s Wrong with Planned Giving – and What to Do About It
“What we’ll do is hire one person who is an attorney, and they can handle the planned gifts as well as the major gifts.” That’s one of the statements we hear frequently. We object to two things in that statement: Hiring one person to do both functions. You may have to...
Attributes of the Ideal Major Gift Organization
7 Keys to a Successful Major Gift Program – Key #1: Attributes of the Ideal Major Gift Organization People often ask us what we think makes for a really good major gift program. Sometimes this question comes from frustration with how things are currently going. Often...
There’s Something Wrong in Major Gifts
There’s something wrong in the major gifts field – something that causes MGOs to leave their jobs at an alarming rate. And Jeff and I know what it is. We can sum it up in two points: 1. Most managers and leaders in non-profits don’t understand how major gifts works....
5 Reasons MGOs Fail to Get Larger Gifts
One of the most frequent complaints we get from managers and leaders of non-profits is that their MGOs are not bringing in the “big money.” By “big money,” they mean larger gifts – six- and seven-figure gifts – even bigger ones. There are some good reasons why this...
Telling a Donor Story Doesn’t Prove Your Major Gift Program is Working
I was having lunch the other day with a major gift director, and I asked her how her major gift program was performing. She said, “I think it’s going great. Last week one of my MGOs solicited a gift for $100,000, and the donor said yes!” Huh? I said back to her, “Well...TOP RATED PODCAST
Twice monthly, Richard and Jeff address current topics and classic problems in major gift fundraising.
