Stay with any hotel that’s part of a major flag since the beginning of the pandemic and one change that has stayed constant is the end of the daily housekeeping service. No fresh towels and no room cleaning each day, unless requested. The impetus for this change, of course, was the concern early in the…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Taking The Time vs. Making The Time
“Taking the time,” implies that we are squeezing into our schedules an unplanned activity, engagement, or task. When we “take the time,” we deduct from our current schedule. It implies something we should do. Perhaps, even, a burden. “Making the time,” on the other hand, suggests that we are proactively planning to use our time…
Do This Before You Ask
It’s quite common for advancement professionals and volunteers to want the “silver bullet language” around asking for gifts. Surely there must be phrases, individual words, and conversation transitions which, when deftly strung together, will unlock the giving motivations in humans. There must be a process, a formula, a blueprint that makes the asking easier and…
Us vs. Them
It works to make us feel better in the moment. It works to help us not examine our own possibilities, problems, or opportunities. It works to deflect responsibility. But it only works for so long. In time, “us vs. them” thinking crashes under its own weight of fear, insecurities, doubt, self-absorption, non-factual biases, and too…
Messy and Sticky
If your aim is to enhance the visibility of your institution, engage more advocates for your cause, and raise more money by making your work more orderly, organized, and programmed, you will have limited success. If your aim is to increase the number of donors who give at the $1,000+ level, have more people attend…
The 3 Most Important “Case For Support” Questions
Too many institutions start the draft of their “Case For Support” by focusing on the “support” part of that phrase. These are typical questions asked first: Project: What do we need money for? Priority: Is this project/initiative/building our most important priority? Details: How will we specifically spend the money? And while these are, ultimately important questions…
The Guide With The Candle
Perhaps the most concerning giving trend in the U.S. is the continuing decrease in the total number of donors making charitable gifts each year. Regardless of the variables and reasons researchers point to in explaining this decades-long trend, I remain convinced that people are not growing less interested in doing good. I remain convinced that…
Board Irrelationship
Ask most any educational, healthcare, or social nonprofit executive about the goals they have for their Board or Advisory Council and you will hear phrases like, “deeper engagement,” “philanthropic leadership,” and, “meaningful volunteer experience.” What we say, however, often stands in stark relief when compared to how we actually behave. And, in the case of…
Breadth, Depth, and Time
If year-over-year gift income has increased, advancement leaders will regularly make the case (to their bosses, to their Boards, etc.) that good work is happening. Fundraising totals are an easy-to-understand metric, they make comparisons easy, and they highlight what many people believe advancement programs should be doing. But assessing any enterprise – especially an advancement…
Doing The Far More Difficult
It’s easy to complain that our institution doesn’t have the support from the types of wealthy donors that other institutions enjoy. Far more difficult to engage, invite, and steward the donors who currently support our mission. It’s easy to identify the shortcomings of the individual who held our position before we arrived. Far more difficult…