Development practitioners pride themselves on their professionalism. Certifications like Certified Fundraising Executive or the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Fellows program are growing in prominence. And I can understand why. In our world today, education is almost universally viewed as a good investment. And I’m all for education. But, I have a problem with our…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Ship Or Be Average
Today, I read a Chronicle of Philanthropy article focused on the new IRS data which suggests that Americans gave much less than “Giving USA” reported during 2008-2009. Ok. And what exactly should this mean for development professionals? I’m not a huge fan of giving projections. First, no one really knows how much is given. But…
Developing Perspectives or Skills
Are you more invested in developing new skills or developing new perspectives? Many development professionals seek to acquire new skills. However, developing new perspectives makes you a truly valuable professional. Developing a skill may help you write a tighter, more effective phonathon script. Developing a new perspective would encourage you to integrate your social media,…
Haute Couture Fundraising
The phrase, “haute couture” refers to the creation of exclusive, custom-fitting clothing. This clothing is made from high-quality, expensive fabric, sewn expertly by the most experienced of seamstresses, and form-fitted for a particular client. Haute couture emerged in the mid 1800s in France. You know the names of many of the official haute couture firms…
Communication Frequencies
At what communication frequency do you most comfortably operate? Do you resonate most on the email frequency? Or maybe it is the face-to-face frequency? Or the phone frequency? Or the text frequency? Or the social media frequency? Or possibly there are still a few out there who resonate most with the touch-intensive letter frequency. Most…
Tetelestai!
Tetelestai is a wonderfully rich Greek word. Somewhat poorly translated it means, “It is finished!” As part of my work as a consultant I conduct vice presidential-level searches for institutions. A first-hand observation I would make after looking at thousands of resumes – many people leave positions too quickly. Different studies place the average tenure…
The Law of Exclusivity
Recently, my wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage with a long weekend in NYC. It was a fun and memorable trip. One of the memories we both will treasure was the night we saw “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” on Broadway. The show was fantastic. But even more, one of…
Why Bacon Tastes So Good
Mashable recently ran a helpful short piece on why email bacon is effective while spam is a nuisance. Bacon, of course, is the email that we sign-up to receive. It’s the Groupon coupons, the Facebook updates, and, yes, the Jason’s Blog feed. Spam, on the other hand, is all of the unsolicited email junk from…
Reform or Transform
When we reform something we make it better. We correct. We amend. We revise. When we transform something we change it altogether. We reconstruct. We metamorphose. We revolutionize. We talk far more about transforming than we do about reforming. For instance, we say our institutions provide a transformational education experience. We tell our Boards that we…
“Active Recovery” Donor Stewardship
To counteract the impact that age is having on my metabolism, I started running last year. The past year’s worth of running has taught me a lot. For example: It’s rather easy to get injured running. Toenails can get mangled. Knees can ache. Ankles can twist. The simple act of running in a straight line…