Development work can become a 24/7 lifestyle. There are always more events to attend. More lunches to have with donors. More trips to visit prospects. It can seem never-ending. And ultimately, if one is not careful, it can produce an unhealthy, out-of-balance lifestyle. In response to these very real pressures, some people apply a…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
When Others Are Fearful. . .
Fresh from a conference with other college presidents, a client once called me to express his concern about moving forward with campaign plans. Like recent days, the markets had been up and down (mostly down) and the talk at the conference had apparently been about institutions pausing their campaign plans or stopping them altogether. “Jason,”…
On Becoming A Better Leader
Why do some leaders inspire action from those in their care and other leaders struggle to keep mutiny from occurring? Why do some leaders engender positive feelings while others give rise to feelings of angst, fear, or worse? Is it charisma? Experience? The ability to make others feel at ease? Even if we can answer…
Doing The Giving
The decision to make a “stretch gift” is driven, many times, more by the donor’s psyche and her beliefs about giving than by the value of the institution or the program. I’ve listened to donors long enough to know this to be true – and I’ve seen it at work in my own life. Here…
The Influence of Expensive Wine
Perception is reality. . . or it at least helps create reality. We have known for some time that wine drinkers reported on surveys that more expensive wine tasted better. The problem with these surveys, of course, is that we never really knew if it was the status of drinking expensive wine that led people…
What Do You Want To Get Better At Doing?
Whenever I’m in front of a group of development professionals, I like to ask a question that goes like this, “when someone asks about your work, what do you say you do?” In most instances, I hear thoughtful and serious responses similar to the following, “I say that I build relationships with people who have…
Talking About Tools
My father ran a small heating and air conditioning company. Summer was his busy season. When summertime heat kicks in, people will do just about anything to get relief. And if the AC isn’t working, they want it fixed. . . and fast! During the summers of my youth I went to work with my…
Admiring The Butterfly
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” — Maya Angelou Imagine for a minute the challenge of the caterpillar. Would you allow yourself to believe you could be transformed from a multi-legged, slow moving insect into a beautiful winged flyer? In…
The 2 Questions A Leader Should Answer And The 1 A Leader Must
If you want to lead people – donors, team members, others at your institution – here are the 2 questions you should be able to answer: What are we doing? How are we going to do it? Most people can answer #1 – they know what they are doing. If you say, “what is your…
Why Better Storytelling Won’t Lead to Larger Gifts
Leaders of institutions often share with me the following general frustration about communicating with donors and prospects: “We don’t tell our story well!” When probed, one (or more) of three underlying concerns almost always surfaces: A need to articulate more clearly, concisely, and authentically the positive “facts” of how the institution impacts students, patients, the…