“I need better data,” is the response we often hear (and sometimes give ourselves) when we are uncomfortable with a next step. Consider: “I need more data before I know how much to invite him to give. . .” “I need better data before we can run an accurate list of donors who gave at…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Letting The Outside In
I visit with many college and university presidents, nonprofit executives, and other leaders. When I ask, “so, how are things right now?” I often get one of two types of answers: A reflective, introspective response focused on what is happening within the institution. How things are progressing with the leadership team, for instance. Or, how…
Goals and Strategies
What are you trying to accomplish? Increase your donor base OR Increase your dollars raised? Enhance the number of people you serve from your community OR Enhance the sense of community among the people you serve? Raise more annual fund money OR Raise more money through annual giving? Get more people to respond to your…
3 Campaign Decisions Only Leaders Can Make
Multi-year, comprehensive campaigns have lots of moving parts and many engaged parties. There are many ways that campaigns can be successful (and, also, many ways they can fail). But, as with most things on which human cooperation depends, successful campaigns require effective leadership. Specifically, there are 3 campaign decisions only leaders can (and should) make. …
Campaigns and Priorities
The campaign is successful when the charitable giving total exceeds the goal(s). The priority being funded by the campaign is successful when it is implemented, or built, or started. The difference between the campaign and the priorities it funds becomes apparent in how we communicate progress in stories (i.e., the campaign’s progress or the priority’s…
Simply Listening
Listening to another’s feedback, opinion, perspective, story, proposal, recommendation, or advice doesn’t mean. . . I agree with you. I am bound to do as you say. I would have reacted the same way. Your perspective makes sense to me. Your approach is the correct one for me. I’m of the same mind as you….
Where Do You Work?
Some people work in the future. The next donor visit. The next gift. The next goal. The benefits of this approach are that the future is almost always perceived to be better and some sort of progress almost always occurs. The downsides with this approach are that others may not feel important to us and…
Place Matters
In the for-profit world, scale matters. If 100 widgets cost me $100 to produce, then 1,000 may only cost me a bit more, perhaps $200, to produce. If I sell my widgets at a local famer’s market, I can sell maybe 10 on a Saturday morning. If I utilize the web to sell my widgets,…
Affiliative and Agentic Relationships
Advancement leaders sometimes find themselves awkwardly positioned with donors. On the one hand, the donor and advancement leader may have a warm, friendly, and comfortable relationship. They genuinely may enjoy spending time with each other. Social scientists call these types of relationships, affiliative. On the other hand, the advancement leader understands that the donor relationship…
Inviting More
For a vast number of nonprofits, there is a single, simple adjustment that could be made which would radically change how much is received through charitable giving. . . they could invite more gifts from their donors. Just ask more. That’s it. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp. It’s been backed up by research…