Skip to content

Jason's Blog

Giving is Good

Menu
  • About Jason
  • Consulting
  • Engage
  • Learn
Menu

The Best and Most Human Things

Posted on May 12, 2025May 12, 2025 by Jason McNeal

As A.I. grows in applicability and opportunities for content creation multiply, there remains a space in which the best advancement professionals can shine.  Here’s how: We can empathize. We can show care. We can over-communicate. We can cooperate. We can give the benefit of the doubt. We can connect. We can smile and laugh. We…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

Work Worth Doing

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Jason McNeal

We don’t talk a lot about adding value to our work, to our colleagues, to our programs, or to our organizations. We do talk a good bit about being too busy, about being over-scheduled, and about being rushed. But, if we focused more on adding value – and how to do that more often –…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

Jumping To Tactics

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Jason McNeal

It can feel productive to jump straight into tactics. A volunteer might ask, “What you want me to do?” A colleague might suggest, “What if we raised our sponsorship amounts for our gala this year?” A boss might opine, “You might think about adding another giving day to the calendar.” Tactics get us moving.  Tactics…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

What We Say vs. What We Say

Posted on May 5, 2025May 4, 2025 by Jason McNeal

Major gift officers are taught that their role is to guide donors in making gifts that align with their personal passions and values. Experienced gift officers will share stories of helping donors give in ways that are meaningful to them as an exemplar of effective major gifts work. This is what we say about our…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

Motivations

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Jason McNeal

In advancement, the most effective professional plans, implements, and follows-up with a motivation to guide the audience through a meaningful and joyful experience of giving and/or volunteerism. The fairly effective professional plans, implements, and follows-up with a motivation to respond and react to the audience.  Whatever the audience wants dictates their work. The ineffective professional…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

On Proposing

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Jason McNeal

We talk a lot about asking in advancement. Asking for the gift.  Asking for their feedback. Asking for their advice.  Asking for their service. We talk far less about how to effectively and consistently get to point of asking. When we propose a potential gift, or propose a donor strategy, or propose a volunteer role…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

Saving Time

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Jason McNeal

In its many iterations, A.I. will save all of us time. That’s what the promise is, anyway. But, when have technology enhancements actually saved us time? Sure, I can now send a “letter” via email and it arrives almost instantly to a location around the world.  Just a generation ago, that same letter might takes…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

Gardening Or Manufacturing

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Jason McNeal

A backyard garden can produce delicious tomatoes one year and then struggle to produce any at all the next. A multi-national manufacturer, on the other hand, can produce the same product line year after year with a high level of precision. With our talk of “pipelines,” “moves management,” and “engagement scores,” we sometimes trick ourselves…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

What Are We Teaching Them?

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Jason McNeal

If we seek to increase the overall number of donors, it makes sense to focus on increasing the number of first-time donors. To increase the number of first-time donors, we might choose to employ a token gift strategy.  For example, we might offer branded socks or a t-shirt or some other tchotchke as a quid…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more

The Simple Reasons Why Donors Give

Posted on April 16, 2025April 14, 2025 by Jason McNeal

A few weeks ago, Sandy Weill, former Citigroup Chairman, and current Weill Family Foundation Chair, joined the folks on Squawk Box (CNBC) to announce a $50 million gift to the Weill Cornell Medical College. Squawk Box host Becky Quick, asked him, “why are you making the gift?” Without pausing he responded with 3 reasons: Longevity…

Follow and share Jason's Blog:
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Read more
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 98
  • Next
Get updates from Jason's Blog via email:

Share Jason’s Blog

RSS
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
© 2025 Jason's Blog | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme