Thinking in terms of “formulas” for advancement work is akin to thinking that there is (or should be) a “formula” for the relationships within our families or our close friend groups. When we think of our personal relationships, we easily recognize that there is no helpful formula or equation that works for all of these…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Convincing
Show someone a peer-reviewed, published study that contradicts their worldview and you might just hear, “those studies are all biased.” Share with someone recent data that suggests there are macro-level trends emerging that challenge their beliefs and you might just hear, “the organization that compiled that data is untrustworthy.” Present someone with statistics that suggest…
Brainstorming Doesn’t Work (And How To Fix It)
“Let’s get the team together and spend some time brainstorming new initiatives for the coming year.” This type of statement and planning is done ubiquitously in our work. Advancement professionals brainstorm a lot. But, it turns out, the concept of getting groups of people together to creatively come up with new ideas – i.e., “brainstorming”…
‘How’ Is The Call To Action?
If our goal is for more donors to increase their support for our cause, we have to start by asking how will we invite them to give. If our goal is to have 100 people show up at our event, we have to start by asking how will we invite them to attend. If our…
The Recipient of the Gift
When a donor makes a gift to support our mission, we think we are receiving it. Or, we think our students, or our patients, or our programs, or our participants, are receiving the gift. We aren’t and they aren’t. Not really. The real recipient of the gift is the donor who gave. As human beings…
Separate, Secondary, and Supportive
With shrinking budget appropriations, challenging student demographics, and rising expenses, today’s public higher education institutions are looking to their foundations for more resources. As institutionally-related foundations seek to provide these resources, foundation board members should make certain that they are addressing 3 important questions: Separate. Is our foundation-institution relationship appropriately separate? Secondary. Does our board…
Influence And What We Care About
Do you care about the mission of your institution? Care enough to work beyond the end of the day without even noticing? Do you care about bettering yourself professionally? Care enough to read a book (or follow a blog!) about our advancement work? Do you care about the quality of your work product? Care enough…
Old Relationships
Some years ago on Facebook, I friended my favorite history professor from college. She was kind enough to accept and even though I’m pretty certain she did not recall me from 30+ years ago, she traded some messages with me back and forth. During one of our first exchanges I called her the only name…
Is Your Planning Strategic?
All effective advancement work, from fundraising and constituent engagement, to communications and back-of-house data systems, begins with an institution-wide, mission-centered strategic plan. Donors don’t give to your institution as much as they give through your institution because of your mission and your future plans to make a meaningful difference in the world. To create a…
What Do We Assume?
It is not uncommon for someone new to the advancement field to hold strong assumptions about fundraising, giving, and the human spirit of generosity, that are at odds with the true state of reality. For example, if you ask people who do not have a history of working directly with donors a question like, “what…