“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams Most folk who work with donors think of themselves as “development officers” first and “philanthropic leaders” almost never. I have become convinced, though, that capably serving in the field of development and…
Category: Fundraising
Going Quant While Staying Quaint
I have written and presented on the use of quantifiable performance measurements in the development profession for a number of years. Having a thoughtfully-crafted set of quantifiable performance measurements is a simple, straightforward, and powerful way to encourage, assess, and reward effectiveness. In general, most development professionals who care about their craft want to…
Don’t Get Things Done in 2010
Marketing guru Seth Godin’s new free e-book, “What Matters Now” includes 70 different authors’ ideas on what we should be thinking about in 2010. In the book Gina Trapani suggests that “getting things done isn’t the same as making things happen.” I read this and thought of our work as development professionals and leaders. Too often…
The Problem with “Sacrificial Giving”
“We need more donors who are willing to give sacrificially!” This was a statement recently made to me by the CEO of a national non-profit. I paused for a moment to think about how I might best respond. “What would more sacrificial gifts do for your organization?” I asked. He couldn’t provide a good answer….
The Gift Isosceles Trapezoid
The standard gift pyramid looks something like this: However, when development leaders sort through their database they often find their gift “pyramid” looking more like an “hourglass”: As this graphic suggests, many major gift pipelines are not as robust at the middle gift levels. Why is this the case? Two reasons: First, the annual fund…
Good Money After Good
The news lately has been filled with stories of huge investments. A few weeks ago we learned that Warren Buffett invested $26 billion to buy Burlington Northern Sante Fe railroad. And then last week the parents of Amazon.com founder, Jeff Bezos, announced a $10 million gift to the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle….
Where have the volunteers gone?
When asked to describe their work, many Major Gift Officers will respond something like, “to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift prospects.” This perception of the MGO job description has become commonplace and I wish it wasn’t so. Why? Primarily because the answer suggests that the MGO is the one who should be…
Part IV – Measuring Success The Buffett Way
This is the fourth and final entry in a series designed to question how development professionals (and others such as CEOs and Boards) should evaluate development effectiveness. If Warren Buffett were to assess the effectiveness of our development programs, what measures might he use? Below is my final answer to this question. My first answer…
Part III – Measuring Success The Buffett Way
As promised in an earlier blog on Warren Buffett, this is the third entry in a series designed to question how development professionals (and others such as CEOs and Boards) should evaluate development effectiveness. If Warren Buffett were to assess the effectiveness of our development programs, what measures might he use? Below is my third answer…
Part I: Measuring Success – The Buffett Way
As promised in an earlier blog on Warren Buffett, this entry is the first in a series designed to question how development professionals (and others such as CEOs and Boards) should evaluate development effectiveness. Warren Buffett knows a thing or two about valuing (and investing in) successful enterprises. Given his incomparable ability to evaluate good…