Annual Funds are successful prior to the start of the fiscal year. Campaign goals are achieved before they are announced. Tomorrow’s planned gifts were solidified years ago. Our successes today depend on how mature our development program was yesterday. The more mature our programs, the more optimistic we can be regarding success today and…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
On Being Peculiar
We use the word all the time: “That’s peculiar!” “He’s just peculiar.” And while our use of the word may not be snidely, on most occasions we use it to mean something less than positive. In fact, the first definition for the word given by dictionary.com is strange, queer, odd. Many of your major donors…
The Preemptive Gift
You’ve done your homework. You’ve cultivated her and her husband. You understand what drives their philanthropic decisions and you have a data-driven, clear sense of their capacity. You’ve crafted a proposal that highlights the meaningful intersection between their values and interests and your institution’s work. You’ve engaged a key Board member – one of their…
Performance Metrics – Webcast Opportunity
If you are interested in learning more about how to implement performance metrics well, I’ll be giving my take in an upcoming webcast sponsored by ALDE – the Association of Lutheran Development Executives. Here are the specifics: Date: Thursday, October 28, 2010 Time: 3:00 – 4:30pm Central Site Fee: $75 – you can’t beat this…
Sleeping with Eyes Wide Open
Recently, our son who is four, appealed to my wife and I that he deserved to go to bed later than his older sister because he took a nap during the afternoon. The problem was that he, in fact, did not nap. But he argued to the contrary. Finally, after proving beyond all reasonable doubt…
What We Wish Donors Really Knew
Development professionals work tirelessly to educate donors. In fact, I believe that donor education is really the core of our work. This education typically involves one or more of the following areas: Institutional education – we educate donors about our history, services provided, communities served, and institutional accolades; Vision education – we educate donors about…
Benedict Arnold And Your Donors
The value in understanding history lies not in the notion that times stay the same, but, rather, that human nature does. Take the case of Benedict Arnold. We all remember him as the traitor during the Revolutionary War. But for many of us, that is all we know of the story. When historians attempt to…
What’s More Important: Donors or Their Gifts?
Does your institution care more about its donors or their gifts? Before you answer, let me ask the same question in a more practical, perhaps more helpful way. After you receive the gift, how long does it take, on average, for your institution to thank and extend a gift receipt to a donor? In the…
How Happy Are Your Donors?
In prospect management meetings all across the country this week, advancement teams have prioritized donor portfolios based on the two most important variables currently in use: Capacity (a wealth estimate of some sort), and; Interest (an estimate of how ‘close’ or ‘engaged’ the prospect is with the institution). No matter the terms used for these…
Your Collective Board. . . Isn’t
A Board is a collection of individuals. The important word here is “individuals.” Not “collection.” Each member of a Board brings her own passion, interests, abilities, capacities, and shortcomings to the group. Boards work and are generous, not because administrators engage the collective group, but rather because administrators first engage each peculiar, individual member in…