“Our calendar year end direct mail solicitation was not as successful as we had hoped.” Was it because the message was ineffective? Or, was it because too many reviewers delayed the production process and made the piece late arriving in mailboxes? “I didn’t have as many visits this year with my assigned donors as I…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Helpful Volunteers
If we start with the belief that volunteers can help advance our mission in important ways, then, we need to also realize that it is likely they won’t understand how to do that effectively without our guidance. It is unwise (and will be viewed as unprofessional, btw), to invite people to volunteer and, then, also…
Leadership is. . .
. . . ensuring that others are included, even when it might be easier to do it ourselves. Which is one reason why leadership is far less about the title or position we hold and far more about the influence we create.
Working On or With Problems
An alternative take on Seth Godin’s recent post on problems and situations. It’s easy to work on problems. Especially if they appear without warning and seem urgent. We stop and look for solutions. We put out fires immediately. It’s much more helpful, though, to have the discipline to ask whether an emergent problem is…
Life Hacks
You may complete the task faster. The shortcut actually might get you there quicker. But there is a reason for the “longcut.” For many important life outcomes, seeking a hack, bypass, or a quicker workaround is wasting time and potentially derailing our progress. Eating better. Getting physically fit. Feeling better emotionally. Saving for retirement. Building…
Noise
Marketing colleagues talk regularly about breaking through the significant noise on social media, legacy channels, like direct mail, and even in face-to-face meetings. How can we capture attention? How can we keep attention? How can we motivate helpful action in others? Important to keep in mind, though, that some of the loudest, most disruptive noise…
Everything is Temporary
That’s not bad news. In fact, it’s a huge, unspoken part of why humans can logically maintain hope for the future. We have the capacity to play a part in changing things – even important things – like a troubled relationship with a donor, a negative institutional culture, or low total giving numbers. All because…
A Resolution for Generosity
Good morning and welcome to 2025! I hope the last evening of 2024 was an enjoyable one for you, your family, and friends. As many people establish resolutions for the New Year, I thought I’d share mine. I’m calling this “A Resolution for Generosity.” I hope I can keep it. In a world full of…
“Top Down” or “Inside Out”?
In any campaign or significant fundraising initiative, there is wisdom in practicing the maxim of engaging your potential donor segments in a “top down, inside out” order. This phrase, of course, refers to inviting both your highest financial capacity donors (i.e, the “top” in “top down”), and those donors closest to your institution (i.e., the…
The Data We Share
How many data points would it take to prove to your CEO, your board, your major donors – anyone, for that matter – that your fundraising program is healthy and growing? If you think it would take at least 5 data points and probably 10 or more, you might not be using data as effectively…