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.
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
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…
“Yes” and “No” Are Overrated
“I’m writing to let you know that we will make the gift of $50,000.” “Unfortunately, we aren’t going to be able to give this year.” The first quote represents the wonderful news that the donor will give. Yes! This is a fantastic message to receive and we rejoice in receiving it. The second quote, on…
Receiving and Inviting
Many advancement teams have a primary culture of receiving gifts. In general, these teams spend the bulk of their time, energy, and resources after gifts have been made. They are really good at responding, thanking, stewarding, and showing gratitude. Some advancement teams have a primary culture of inviting gifts. These teams spend more time, energy,…
Why Consistent Giving Is So Difficult
According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, the average nonprofit donor retention rate (or, the percentage of your donors who gave last year who also will give to your institution this year), is about 45%. Advancement leaders have lamented this “below 50%” data point for years. In response, all kinds of analyses and solutions have been…
Extending Conversations
Invite the gift when the prospect poses a question like, “What do you all need to make this happen?” Turn the conversation toward your campaign priorities when the prospect asks, “What are you all working on today?” “Could you see yourself providing a leadership gift for this project?” is a fantastic response when a major…
2 Types of Meetings
Collaborative Meetings. These meetings are designed to brainstorm together, to collectively create, to “bounce ideas off of each other.” The purpose of these meetings is to involve others in the idea formation process. Responsive Meetings. These meetings are designed to react to a proposal, to refine an idea, to improve a plan. The purpose of…
Leading Volunteers
What’s the reason our institution utilizes volunteers? What’s the point? The purpose? If we expect our volunteers to provide the definitive answers to these questions, we may want to re-think our role. As advancement professionals who engage volunteers, our first duty is to understand clearly why they are being asked to volunteer. Our second duty…