We all have the right to speak. But there is no right to be influential. We all have the right to invite others. But there is no right to hear an affirming response. We all have the right to show up. But there is no right to get results. We all have the right to…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Making It Look Easy
Effectiveness should never be confused with working with great effort or working fast or working long. The most effective magicians don’t appear to be trying hard to fool us. Their actions can almost seem minimal. The most effective athletes don’t appear to be playing hard. Their play can almost seem effortless. The most effective teachers…
Sure!
My father will be 90 years old in January of 2025. For years he has told a story that dates back to the early 1950s when he was in his mid-teenage years. During the summers he would leave his home in WV and travel by himself to Cleveland, OH, to look for work. The story…
Beyond Engagement
It’s easy to talk about engagement and we do it a lot in our work. Donor engagement. Prospect engagement. Team engagement. Volunteer engagement. It’s more difficult to consistently behave in ways that engage donors, prospects, volunteers, and colleagues, though. And, it’s incredibly uncommon to consistently behave in ways that would warrant the addition of qualifiers…
Certainty and Culture
No one can tell us if a particular direct mail package will succeed in encouraging more first-time donors to give. We can’t know – for certain – if the email announcing a matching gift will encourage giving from current donors to increase enough to meet the match. It is not a certainty that our off-campus…
Taking Blame
One morning recently, I attempted to pull into a McDonald’s to grab a cup of coffee (McDonald’s coffee is the best, don’t @ me). I say attempted to pull into a McDonald’s because the particular entrance I was using to get into the parking lot was marked as a one way entrance and there was…
The Big Arc
Amid the confusion, contentiousness, frustration, outrage, division, anxiety, and despair, it can feel sometimes like the world we are leaving for our children and grandchildren is going in the wrong direction. Pick an important personal, societal, or global topic and it can seem like negativity and virulence surrounds it. When we look back on human…
Wheeler’s Which and Major Gift Fundraising
Development folk are not salespeople. But, there are elements of selling psychology that can be helpful for development officers to understand. Enter Wheeler’s Which. Elmer Wheeler was a sales trainer almost a century ago in Texas. He came up with the well known phrase, “Don’t sell the steak. Sell the sizzle.” He also came up…
The Task and The Result
A lot of people are willing to do the task. Make the phone calls to major donor prospects. Finalize the run of show for the upcoming giving day. Create the leadership-giving direct mail solicitation letter. Choose the pictures for the magazine’s next cover story. Edit the videos for the campaign’s website. Far fewer are willing…
Intelligence and Practice
It’s fairly easy to find most any advancement-related strategy, program, approach, or tactic within minutes through an old-fashioned Google search. We can attend professional development conferences in person. We can engage in synchronous and asynchronous online education programs. We can listen to podcasts and read books, blogs, and articles. Today, we can even engage artificial…