Creating Awareness: The First Relationship Step to Get Meetings
“I had no idea you did that!” the donor said. And that, my friend, is where it all starts to go bad or good, depending on how the MGO handles it. Picture this… You have qualified the donor for your caseload. You have even uncovered her passions and interests. But when...
The Four “Must Haves” in Major Gifts
The lady came up to me at a conference I was speaking at and said: “Richard, we are thinking of starting a major gift program. We’re having a lot of internal discussion about what is minimally needed to start a successful program. What do you think?” It was an easy...
The Unneeded Preoccupation with Overhead
I am truly fascinated by the misguided idea some people have, that it is good to tell donors that 100% of their donations can go to program, with none of it going to overhead. Charity:water is a nonprofit that makes this offer. Here is Charity:water’s...How to Get Donors to Fund General Operations
Do you know everything your organization does and how much it costs? Do you have a file folder, either virtual or actual, full of projects and programs at different dollar levels to match up with each of your donors’ passions and interests? When I ask MGOs that...
In Fundraising, It’s About the Problem, NOT the Process
Several weeks ago I sat in a long meeting discussing strategy with a group of major gift officers. We had asked program staff from the organization to attend, to give us resources for constructing donor offers. I should have brought a pillow to the meeting so I could...TOP RATED PODCAST
Twice monthly, Richard and Jeff address current topics and classic problems in major gift fundraising.
