Giving is Good
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…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…