All told, we can engage in 3 methods of asking. We can: Beg; Persuade; or, Facilitate Of the three, begging is the least effective and brings with it the smallest gift totals from individual donors. This is the sympathy play. Begging asks donors to give because there is an urgent need – perhaps with those…
Author: Jason McNeal
I provide leadership, advancement and fundraising consulting services to educational, healthcare, and non-profit organizations.
Ego
A few years back I had the good fortune to meet Bruce Heilman in a University of Tennessee graduate course. Bruce was president of the University of Richmond from 1971 – 1986 and is credited with elevating that institution to one of national prominence. I won’t go into the story here but what he accomplished…
The Unique Giving Proposition
Our friends in the marketing world long ago came up with the notion of the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Simply put, the USP is the impelling reason why a customer would choose one product over another. It is that “thing” that gives a company’s product or service a distinct advantage over the competition. It may be…
5 Reasons Your Major Prospects Say “No”
“It’s not about you.” That’s the opening sentence of the uber-successful book, The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. It’s also a helpful attitude to embrace when toiling in the major gift vineyard. Rejection is a component of development work. Sometimes major prospects tell us, “no.” When it happens (hopefully infrequently) we should take care…
Donor Gratitude
Most development professionals I know understand the need to provide personalized and meaningful gratitude to donors. Most understand that extending thanks is both the right thing to do and also helps encourage future giving from donors. Most think a lot about saying thank you to donors. But what if we made the donor experience so…
Begin With The Journey In Mind
You’ve heard the saying, “Begin with the end in mind.” (Habit 2 of Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”). With all respect to Covey. . . I think this isn’t completely right. Here’s why: What is it that we plan that ever ends? I mean really ends? Stopped. Completed. No more. Finished. Finito. A successful…
Forward Giving
Although the phrase, “giving back,” is used everyday in development work I’ve never thought of it as being very helpful. First, it encourages the idea that something was received in the past and now, out of duty, out of indebtedness, the donor should pay for it. I’m not sure that this encourages uncommon generosity in…
The “One Shot” Ask
“The Ask.” Those two little words have more loaded meanings and feelings attached to them than perhaps any other phrase in development. Most volunteers don’t want to do it. And, sometimes, even seasoned development professionals will feel a bead of sweat trickle down the center of their backs when making “The Ask.” While I always…
Why You Need A Case Statement
You need a case statement. Most development folk know this. They know they need a case statement which has been “tested” and is characterized by what I term the 3 C’s: clarity, concision, and compulsion. They know they need a case statement because: Every organization has a glossy, oversized, impressive case statement, and; Donors will…
The Good Patterns
This weekend I received a great little book – The War of Art – given to me by friend, Dave Jobe, CEO of Karmadillo. Dave works with professional service businesses – law firms, architecture firms, consultants, etc. – to help them grow their business through permission-based marketing and thought leadership strategies. Good stuff. The War…