“I don’t know how we will reach the goal. . .” “I don’t know where the next major gift is coming from. . .” “I don’t know who is willing to lead this campaign. . .” After we establish a goal, create a fundraising plan, or design a campaign, our advancement work is filled with…
Category: Branding
Marketing Your Annual Fund
Development leaders often make the case that donors aren’t eager to give to the annual fund because its not compelling to support “keeping the lights on.” But, donors aren’t ceasing their giving to your annual fund because they want to, “give to something specific” instead. Or, because your annual fund, “is a black hole.” Or,…
Wanting More
Most of us want more of something. More dollars raised. More donors. More attendees at our signature event. More effectiveness. More communication. More quiet time. More peace. More time to think. More. . . something. Wanting more is natural for humans. It’s in our DNA. And, for teams of humans with an identified purpose, wanting…
Setting The Table
Most institutions understand the concept of marketing – offer an attractive opportunity along with an easy way for people to respond. We market programs, special events, activities, athletics, ticket sales, annual giving opportunities, naming opportunities, planned giving, etc. But what comes before marketing – public relations – is at least as important as the marketing…
A Higher Education ‘Feel Good’ Story With a Moral
Recently, I read a news story about a woman who posted on social media about potentially missing out on a substantial scholarship offer from Maryville College in Tennessee. If you have yet to read the story, the basics are that student was going to need significant financial assistance to go the traditional 4-year college route. …
2 Types of Meetings
Collaborative Meetings. These meetings are designed to brainstorm together, to collectively create, to “bounce ideas off of each other.” The purpose of these meetings is to involve others in the idea formation process. Responsive Meetings. These meetings are designed to react to a proposal, to refine an idea, to improve a plan. The purpose of…
Leading Volunteers
What’s the reason our institution utilizes volunteers? What’s the point? The purpose? If we expect our volunteers to provide the definitive answers to these questions, we may want to re-think our role. As advancement professionals who engage volunteers, our first duty is to understand clearly why they are being asked to volunteer. Our second duty…
Tribes or Ecosystems
Brand tribes have been a buzz concept in marketing circles for a few years now. From a marketing perspective, tribes – or customer communities made up of like-minded people who gather together based on shared interests and brands and the values those brands project – represent an opportunity to efficiently engage and motivate a large…
Just Go Play
My son plays high school basketball. During the fall of 2020, his freshman year, his high school made the difficult decision to cancel most of their season due to the pandemic. Because he would be missing a full year of his high school career, my son went to his coach and asked what drills he…
What We Need
We may, legitimately, need another gift officer on the team. Incontrovertibly, we may need another gift processor. There may be no question that we need more budgeted resources to implement our alumni program. All of these limited-resource realities (and many others) might be accurate and true. But none of them change the fact that today,…