Wishful Thinking in Major Gifts
It is an amazing thing to watch – truly amazing. Some authority figure casually decides to hire a MGO to chase what Jeff and I would call “ghosts and rabbits.” It’s wishful thinking at its best – and stupidity at its worst. I know that’s strong language, but I just...The Danger of Prospecting
Here is a conversation I always seem to have when I start working with MGOs on their portfolio of donors: I ask about the giving behavior of their donors. The MGO says, “Well, they aren’t going to give much more than what they already give.” “Why?” I ask. The MGO...Don’t “Mine” New Donors, “Mind” Your Current Donors
When we evaluate a non-profit’s major gift performance, we really zero in on two things: value retention (caseload value in terms of dollars retained year over year) and donor retention (number of donors on a caseload that continue their giving year after year). What...Are You Really a Major Gift Officer?
I’m angry. In my last post I told the story of an MGO who reached out to us at Veritus, desperate to understand what was wrong with her. “I feel like I’m doing everything wrong. I read your blog posts about major gifts and that feels right to me, but my boss is saying...Familiarity Breeds Contempt?
What’s wrong with this picture? Could it be that the top donor of this large non-profit gave $106,000 less from year 1 to year 2? Maybe. Or that a group of $5,000 givers are just “missing in action” in year two? Yep. All of that could be troubling. But most troubling...TOP RATED PODCAST
Twice monthly, Richard and Jeff address current topics and classic problems in major gift fundraising.
