In the sociopsychology world, the concept of diffusion of responsibility is well studied and researched. Basically, diffusion of responsibility suggests that when individuals are confronted with an emergency, they are less likely to help when there are more people around. This diminution of helping behavior occurs because each of us believes others in the group…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
A Fresh Approach to Board Engagement
Board member engagement can be a tricky business. While we want (and need) the engagement of Board members in some ways (think opening the door to a generous friend), we don’t need (or want) their engagement in other ways (think telling you who to hire). We know, though, that appropriate Board engagement is healthy and…
Wanting More
Most of us want more of something. More dollars raised. More donors. More attendees at our signature event. More effectiveness. More communication. More quiet time. More peace. More time to think. More. . . something. Wanting more is natural for humans. It’s in our DNA. And, for teams of humans with an identified purpose, wanting…
Helping Donors Make Exceptions
“Young people today don’t love our country and they don’t want to work.” This statement was made by a major gifts donor I interviewed a couple years ago. The interesting thing about this quote is not that an older, white, U.S. citizen made such a statement. These types of statements from folks in this demographic…
Setting The Table
Most institutions understand the concept of marketing – offer an attractive opportunity along with an easy way for people to respond. We market programs, special events, activities, athletics, ticket sales, annual giving opportunities, naming opportunities, planned giving, etc. But what comes before marketing – public relations – is at least as important as the marketing…
Practicing Gratia
What is the purpose of giving? If I were to answer that question by analyzing the appeals for charitable gifts from a variety of nonprofits, I’d come up with a clear answer: The purpose of giving is to meet the important and various needs of others. Students need a robust education. Communities need the best…
Too Nice
In your team’s culture, are you too nice? Too nice to discuss: alternative strategies from the one a colleague is proposing? missed opportunities? goals we didn’t achieve? ideas that go against “what we’ve always done?” new ways of working together? Being nice makes teams run smoothly. Until being too nice doesn’t.
Donor Stewardship And Donor Engagement
The practice of donor stewardship usually includes a variety of steps or phases that aim to move the donor from their most recent gift to a next gift sometime in the future. Steps like the ones below are commonplace: Formal and timely gift acknowledgement and receipting; Personalized gratitude and thanking the donor for the gift;…
A Higher Education ‘Feel Good’ Story With a Moral
Recently, I read a news story about a woman who posted on social media about potentially missing out on a substantial scholarship offer from Maryville College in Tennessee. If you have yet to read the story, the basics are that student was going to need significant financial assistance to go the traditional 4-year college route. …
Attracting and Keeping Great Team Members
When thinking about hiring and retaining productive and positive team members, its easy to lean on 3 employee-centric decisions: Higher pay; Better title; More flexibility with schedule. While most advancement leaders would relish the opportunity to be able to pay team members more, to promote people consistently, and to add more flexibility to people’s schedules…