We know from a number of studies that a primary motivating factor for giving to a particular institution is a belief in the goodness of the mission. It’s not that there aren’t other motivating factors that encourage giving, but study after study shows that “belief in mission” is a top response when donors are asked…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Framing Volunteer Expectations
It is common for advancement leaders to share a list of “expectations” for Board members, Advisory Council members, and other volunteer leaders. Among a number of expectations, the list might include items like: We expect each member to be prepared for and to engage fully in meetings; and, We expect each member to make a…
Who Is The Decider?
A common advancement team complaint can sound like this: “It takes too long to get something approved.” Think campaign case statement and materials. Or, a magazine. Or, an e-newsletter. Or, a direct mail solicitation letter. Or, even an event invitation. When this type of concern is voiced, what normally comes next is a focus on…
Strengthening A Culture of Giving
When an institution’s leadership complains, “we have never had a strong culture of fundraising success,” there are three assessments worth making immediately. What is the balance between inviting gifts vs. stewarding gifts? Over time, donors who care will follow our lead. If an advancement team is not inviting gifts from donors with the same energy…
What Agentic AI Models Won’t Change About Work
Recent news on the Artificial Intelligence front has centered around agentic AI models. Essentially, agentic AI can better understand the context and operate multi-step processes in order to achieve more complex goals. Agentic AI can plan for the next iterative step to achieve a goal and can do more than simply translate data into knowledge. …
Underneath The Goals
Most advancement leaders list their basic goals in two ways: dollars raised and/or number of donors. Sure, there are other advancement goals – event attendance or social media metrics are examples that immediately come to mind. But, for most advancement leaders, their primary, most fundamental gauge of effectiveness emerges from how many dollars were raised…
What Else Could We Be Doing?
For most everyone in higher education advancement, the spring and summer seasons are the time for annual goal setting, strategy setting, and plan making. If your team is like most, one of the questions asked during these days of planning is, “what else could we be doing?” The idea behind the question is that most…
Who Are We Educating?
“If 10% of our donor database gives over 90% of our total dollars raised, why fuss with annual giving at all? Why not just engage with the 10% who have both the wealth and a spirit of generosity?” I once had a university president who was looking to cut costs ask me this question. I…
“I Need Something Specific”
Gift officers will regularly say, “I need something specific to ask donors to give to.” When they use the word specific, they usually mean they want a tangible way to show “how” the institution will use the gift. For instance: A gift for a specific priority, program, or initiative – like a department or college…
What Matters Most
Recently, I facilitated an afternoon meeting of global business leaders, successful entrepreneurs, and branding experts. It was a small, invite-only group of about 15. Each of these individuals were not only super-successful in various publicly-traded and private businesses and organizations, they also were exceptionally generous. Most in the room had made $1 million+ gifts with…