Strangers usually won’t invest significantly with you or your mission. They don’t know you well enough to trust you. Friends, though, are much more apt to invest with you. They know you well, are invested in their relationship with you, and they believe in you and your mission. When institutions plan for ambitious campaigns or…
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Board Members and Major Gifts
If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that engaging people – wholly, gracefully, and artfully – is a primary theme. Philanthropic investment is, most often, an action that succeeds (not precedes) other forms of engagement. Major gifts, then, begin with those who you know best, your institution’s closest friends and…
.001 Seconds Do Matter. . .Sometimes
It seems that Bode Miller, one of the winningest downhill skiers of all-time, is focusing on becoming a thoroughbred race horse trainer. In making the transition from ski slopes to horses, Bode made an interesting observation. To his mind, the field of horse racing is not as technologically-advanced as skiing. And Bode understands technology…
Why Prospects Don’t Respond
Recently, I served as a faculty member during a Gonser Gerber Institute webinar entitled, “Five Effective Strategies to Secure Visits.” This was a webinar I had long wanted to present as the issue of securing visits can, in many instances, be the most challenging facet of prospect engagement. I know many advancement officers – beginning…
Why You Shouldn’t “Close” Your Next Gift
I listened over the last few days as speakers at a conference talked about “closing gifts.” I’ve never been fond of that phrase – “closing the gift” – but I’ve never went out of my way to find particular fault with it either. And then one speaker made the following statement in reference to the…
Finding the Car, Then the Dealership
It wasn’t that long ago (pre-internet, actually) that people interested in buying a car would show up at the local dealership and begin the process of being “sold” a car. Those days are all but gone. Today, when people are interested in getting a new vehicle, they first scour the internet for their choice and…
Why Presidents Fail
Some of you are aware that I spent my graduate school years researching the topic of why college and university presidents fail. I am pleased to announce that this research culminated in the book, “Presidencies Derailed: Why University Leaders Fail and How To Prevent It,” published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. “Presidencies Derailed” is now…
Why Empathy Matters in Leadership
“A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” You’ve probably seen this sign on someone’s desk or door in your office. Perhaps someone even has muttered the words to you in a moment of frustration. Here’s the thing about this statement — everyone agrees with it. Everyone. If…
Do Bonuses Really Work?
Following a general trend in society and, specifically, a practice held up as productive in for-profit world, our advancement profession has been overrun in recent years with examples of bonuses for exemplary efforts. Sounds like a simple and logical proposition. “Let’s reward the folks who are doing the best work!” But, there is a basic…
Reason and Relationship
Effective development officers are said to blend science with art. While it sounds nice and is easy to say, I have never really found the “science and art” phrase to be overly helpful in explaining our work. Here’s why: Being an scientist and an accomplished artist can occur from individual effort – I can…