If there is one word in our work that captures people’s imagination and interest more than, “asking,” I don’t know what it is. Gift officers are conditioned to talk unremittingly about “making the ask,” presidents and CEOs wonder if they are “asking” enough and for enough, Board members want the development team to “ask” more,…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Do Not Solicit
Recently, I was with a client and we stumbled upon my donor record in their database. “Do Not Solicit,” it read. “That’s interesting,” I observed. “Why would you have me classified as a “do not solicit?” “Well,” came the response, “we didn’t want you to receive all our phonathon calls and direct mail solicitations. ….
Guilt or Grace
Which culture characteristic animates your advancement team’s efforts? While there are a number of ways to assess team culture, assessing your team’s placement on the “Guilt or Grace Continuum” can lead to helpful understandings. In the Guilt Culture, the fundamental assumption is that an organization gets better when problems or gaps in performance are identified…
3 Differences Between Nonprofit and For-Profit Boards
Nonprofit organizations, including colleges, universities, and schools, seek financially-successful, influential, and generous individuals to serve as governing board members. In seeking individuals who fit this profile, nonprofits will regularly pull from a pool of successful for-profit leaders. Not only do many leaders in the for-profit world have access to significant financial resources, they also can…
Getting Ready. . . To Ask – A Professional Development Opportunity
There are two questions consistently asked by serious advancement professionals: “How can our institution get better prepared for our next campaign?” and “How can I get better at asking for major gifts?” These questions, of course, are linked. Consistently soliciting gifts effectively will help ensure that an institution is well-prepared for a campaign. However, there…
What Are You More Afraid Of?
Setting goals and not meeting them OR Realizing that your work isn’t important; Not knowing the right answer OR Not knowing the best questions to ask; Feeling as though you have failed OR Feeling as though you didn’t try hard enough; Being made fun of OR Being unable to make a significant difference; Giving your…
“This Needs To Be Run More Like A Business!”
Recently, I facilitated a focus group populated with private higher education governing board members. One slice of the discussion included a board member lamenting, “Our business model in higher education is broken. I simply do not understand why our tuition and fees are not sufficient to cover our costs. We need to be run more…
Fundraising Is Not A Commodity
A lot of the services we experience from businesses today are commodified. For instance, there are 3 “legacy” airlines now – United, American, and Delta. While each has its own strengths (United has the best mobile app., Delta still serves the best free snacks on flights, etc.), the overall experience of air travel has been…
An Open Letter To A Governing Board Member
Greetings Board Member: We are writing today because recently we’ve been discussing our institution’s engagement of you as a member of our board. Simply put, we recognize that we have failed you in the following important ways: When we recruited you, we failed to share with you a clear, written position description which included a…
Tickled Pink
As I type this message, most of the world finds itself rushing toward the apex of the “Season of Giving.” More personal gifts between family and friends and more tax-deductible charitable gifts will be given over the next 7 days than any other week during the year. Giving is the omnipresent message. And yet, even…