Giving is Good
Why do you want to be in this role at our organization? Why do you want to do the work that this position will do? Why our organization or institution? Primary responses to standard interview questions like these might, “I’d like to move up in my career,” or, “I find this type of work interesting,”…
Sometimes we choose to make a point. We have a perspective. We want to be heard. We believe our thought is the way to go. So, we make a point. Making a point can be helpful and it can also derail from helpfulness. Other times, though, we choose to help our team make points. We…
“It was easier to send a form letter.” “It was easier to send a generic email with a link to our base giving page.” “It was easier to send a universal response card with our direct mail letter.” Easier for whom? Perhaps for us, but almost never for the donor or prospective donor we are…
AI will not cause widespread employment reductions. AI will not cause a “humans vs. robots” world war in which humankind will be eliminated. AI will not cause our most meaningful interactions to move from human-t0-human to human-to-machine. Instead, AI will cause widespread employment growth. See why Ford and IBM are already re-hiring people displaced by…
Great marketing combines creative, meaningful, and timely messaging with strategic implementation. It’s easy to be lulled into believing that the creative, meaningful, and timely messaging part is something that only a few people can create and that the strategic implementation must include some sort of new channel or fresh approach. All of which can be,…
Some stories we tell ourselves are about us: I’m smart (or not as much as I’d like to be); I’m athletic (or not as much as I’d like to be); I’m capable (or not as much as I’d like to be); I’m in shape (or not as much as I’d like to be). Some stories…
Maybe you think the important work is inviting the gift. Perhaps you believe the important work is relationship building. You may have been told the key to advancement work is visiting with current and prospective donors. You might even believe the most significant aspect of the work is stewardship after the gift has been received….
If we want to raise more money, we can focus on our dollar goal. Or, better yet, we can focus on our compelling vision for the future. If we want to grow our donor base, we can focus on adding another solicitation to the calendar. Or, better yet, we can invite current donors to use…
You can invite a donor to increase their giving iteratively, which means they will base the increase of their future giving on what they have given previously. Or, you can invite a donor to increase their giving aspirationally, which means they will base the increase of their future giving on what they believe to be…
We can ask Claude to quickly write the language for a pretty compelling major gift proposal. Or, we can ask Claude to take our major gift proposal and offer 3 different versions that highlight the donor’s known interests in 3 distinct ways. We can ask ChatGPT to create a projected budget for next year’s advancement…