The size of your advancement team matters. On the positive side, there typically is a relationship between the number of team members and the amount of money raised. The more folks, the more money is raised, on average. Makes sense. But there are other issues tied to size. For instance, there is a relationship between…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Recognizing and Thanking Social Media Engagers
Your institution has recognition societies, clubs, and circles based on giving levels. You may even have a recognition group based on consecutive year giving. You probably have an annual event or two that recognizes and thanks your donors based on these groups. You also have a strong sense that the “new world order” of communication…
The Volunteer “Voice” of Your Advancement Program
Have you seen the NBC television show, “The Voice“? It’s a singing talent show of sorts with the gimmick of the old “Dating Game” – the judges can’t see the contestants. They can only hear them. The human voice – tone, tenor, quality, pitch, etc. – provides us with numerous cues about the individual. When…
Building A Brand That Encourages Generosity
When people buy products or services, they, in part, are buying a brand. Buying a Mercedes auto? Sure, you are buying high quality engineering – maybe the best. But you also are buying the notion that the car makes you feel “unlike any other.” Buying a iPhone 4s? Sure, you are buying access to your…
3 Opportunities to Get Better At Our Work
Recognizing a need to do professional development better for advancement folk, my colleagues at Gonser Gerber recently launched a new division – the Gonser Gerber Institute. The mission of the Institute is “to make advancement professionals and teams more effective by delivering dynamic and innovative educational content.” The idea for the Institute came about because we were convinced that…
3 Keys To Receiving Ongoing Major Gifts
During campaign years institutions raise more money. The research is clear on this. A campaign focuses an institution and its donors on strategic priorities and gift income goals. During a successful campaign, the case for support is concisely articulated and the institution places an extraordinary level of energy on the discovery, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship…
The Gamification of Giving
Spend time on Facebook each day? Want to help your favorite charity? You can now do both – simultaneously. GamesThatGive (now owned by Facebook software company Vitrue), allows gamers the opportunity to support their favorite charities simply by playing online games. The longer you play, the more money is donated by GamesThatGive. For those who…
3 Simple Ways To Enhance Your Creativity
Advancement work regularly requires our best creativity. Whether we are devising cultivation strategies for key major donor prospects, writing direct response solicitations, or designing case statements and campaign videos, each of us has to engage the most creative elements of ourselves consistently. The problem, though, is that we tend to think of creativity incorrectly. We…
Why Variety Is Not The Spice of Your Case Statement
Gad Saad, in The Consuming Instinct, has penned an interesting and deep read around the notion of biologically-driven choices. He discusses how our biology drives our consumption behaviors in ways far more important than culture or socialization alone can account. I thought about our work as advancement professionals when Gad covered the “variety effect” and…
A Tale of Two Influences
Not long ago, I was in an airport looking forward to getting home after a long but productive week of client visits. It was late on a Friday night and a far away but severe weather system had wrecked havoc with the friendly skies. Although the weather at our location was perfect, a number of…