“I’m struggling to get my assigned donors to agree to visit with me.” Without question, this is one of the most uttered complaints of gift officers. When prompted to share their outreach message, it is common to hear the following: “I tell them I’d like to thank them personally for their support.” “I tell them…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Extending Ourselves
Be the first to: Offer a helpful hand. Provide a compliment. Find the good. Say, “I was wrong.” Walk away from gossip. Encourage someone. Deliver on time and better than expected. Provide a solution to a problem. Speak up. Change the subject away from complaints. Smile. These behaviors can often feel awkward, difficult, or vexing…
What To Ask In A Group
A president has invited a small group of major gift donors and prospects to serve on an advisory council for a new strategic initiative for the institution. These are current or previous donors who have given significantly in the past, have a sense of ownership about the institution’s future success, and are especially interested in…
Pitching, Asking, or Inviting
A quick riff based on yesterday’s Seth Godin’s pitching vs. asking blog. According to Godin: We are pitching when we have a goal in mind and we are working from a script of some sort. We are asking when we are willing to learn (and potentially change our perspective) from the interaction. Godin says this…
Positive Planning
With the fiscal year ending for many in the higher education advancement world, the “season of annual planning,” soon will be fully upon us. Creating agendas for sessions, retreats, and meetings to plan for the new fiscal year’s aspirations, goals, and objectives is critical to healthy and effective planning. In many instances, though, we program…
“Stretch” Goals and Moving the Goalposts
“Our goal for the annual fund this year is $1.1 million. And, we have a “stretch” goal of $1.3 million.” I hear this type of statement from development leaders far more than I wish. Usually, I respond with something like, “so, what is your goal for the annual fund this year?” I respond this way…
Why “Boy Toys” Are Good
We know that the acronym BOY (“Because of you”), is a compelling phrase in solicitations because it helps connect the prospective donor directly to the impact of the mission. “Because of you, we were able to graduate more students like Lauren. . .” “Because of you, we were able to help over 1,000 patients receive…
The Problem With Perfect
It’s not that perfect doesn’t exist (it doesn’t, of course). It’s that perfect doesn’t exist, yet we act and talk as if it does. We spend too much time reviewing and finalizing that direct mail letter because we are seeking the perfect message. We take too long to set up the visit with that great…
Frictionless
Many advancement leaders say they are striving for a “frictionless” giving experience so that more people will give. Of course, giving has become more and more “frictionless” over time (I can remember, for example, when the only way to respond to a direct mail appeal involved a stamp, a check, and the post office!), and…
Context and Purpose
Both context and purpose are critically important if we aim to be consistently effective on donor visits, meetings with colleagues, phone calls with prospective donors, email outreaches to volunteers, implementing special events, sending direct mail invitations to give – really anything we do in advancement. By context, I mean the surrounding issues related to the…